Metal Powder Market Value to Near $6 Billion by 2028 [Report]

Investment in metal powders has seen continuous growth due to its ability to form lightweight, yet durable material that has attractive use in industries such as automotive, aerospace, and medical equipment. Likewise, advancements in additive manufacturing (AM) technology have grown its usability across a number of industries that can take advantage of 3D printing’s on-the-spot production capabilities — especially for small components.

Metal powder and additive manufacturing have complemented each other well in recent years and their synergy is expected to deliver unprecedented value over the next decade.

The global metal powder market brought in revenue of approximately $4.3 billion in 2017, and that figure is forecast to expand at a compound-annual-growth-rate (CAGR) of 3.0% between 2018 to 2028, according to a new report from Persistent Market Research. That growth will produce an additional market value of $1.55 billion during that span, reaching a total value of nearly $6.0 billion by the end of the forecast period.

The report cites increasing automotive production as the largest growth driver of the global metal powder market, as lightweight materials have become increasingly in-demand. The report goes on to elaborate on how 3D printing has gained traction in the medical sector — put to use in manufacturing medical equipment and organ implants — with expanding applications to result in high demand for metal powder used in that technology. Additionally, the report cites an expected rise in metal powder demand for its use by manufacturing plants to minimize wasted material.

Below are two examples of developments in metal powders in the field of 3D printing:

1. On November 4, 6K — a developer of microwave plasma technology for the production of advanced materials used in 3D printing, lithium-ion batteries, and other industrial markets — launched what it said are the world’s first AM powders derived from sustainable sources. The company said its process has the unique ability to convert certified chemistry machined millings, turning, and other recycled feedstock sources into premium AM-ready metal powder.

   “If the AM industry is to succeed in expanding to a far greater number of parts and market applications, powder production technology has to advance to provide a far stronger business case,” commented Aaron Bent, CEO at 6K. “Part of enabling that expansion will come from a lower total cost structure and higher performance powders, both of which are possible with 6K’s process. But we need to go beyond that, to powders and business models that consider the full production cycle cost of building AM parts.”

2. The Centre Daily Times reported earlier this month that Philipsburg, Pennsylvania-based Advanced Powder Products (APP) — which made Inc. Magazine’s Top 5,000 list of the U.S.’ fastest-growing private companies for a fourth-straight year — is using a $1.8 million loan from the state of Pennsylvania to construct a new 27,000 square-foot facility that will help the company expand its space and workforce. APP used metal powders to specialize in injection molding and 3D metal printing for various industries, including automotive, firearms, medical, industrial, and defense.

   On October 29, industrial sand and metal 3D printing supplier ExOne and metal powders manufacturer Global Tungsten & Powders announced a collaboration to advance tungsten-based metal 3D printing using binder jetting. The partnership focuses on the development of two metal matrix composites: cemented carbide and copper-tungsten to be utilized in binder jetting — a 3D printing process that uses a digital file to inkjet a bonding agent into a bed of powder particles, creating a solid part one layer at a time.