MLT Analytics Report—Sky’s the Limit for Polyolefin Elastomers and Plastomers

• Usage in solar module encapsulation continues on growth trend

• Automotive PP compounds remain a mainstay growth application

• POPs face competition from traditional mLLDPEs in sealant film applications

• New Chinese entrants face operational teething issues

  
  

Singapore, January 20, 2026 – The global market for polyolefin elastomers and plastomers (POEs/POPs*) is forecast to grow at 5.6% per annum (CAGR) through to 2036 to a volume of 4.4 million tonnes-plus according to the latest iteration of MLT Analytics’ Global Ethylene-based POE/POP Report—A Detailed Market and Technology Overview (2024–2036) released today. This impressive growth is being fueled largely by continued growth in solar module deployment albeit with some regional headwinds, and the support of solid gains in impact modification of automotive polypropylene (PP) compounds, sealant films, footwear and hot melt adhesives.

“The solar module industry continues its dynamic transformation, adopting newer, more efficient cell structures such as TOPCon and BC, and encapsulation sheet manufacturers are coming to the conclusion that in most cases, POE is required as a critical component for these emerging technologies to ensure long-term module reliability,” says MLT Analytics CEO and co-founder Stephen Moore. “In many cases, the encapsulant solution employs a combination of POE and EVA resins. We anticipate strong consumption growth for both resins, with POE slightly outpacing EVA in terms of growth, particularly as average module outputs continue to rise,” he adds.

Automotive activity

In the automotive sector, POE continues to be a material of choice for impact modification and while unit production of vehicles is stagnant and even forecast to decline in some developed markets, growth potential remains due to increased use of PP compounds as a lightweighting lever in electric vehicles (EVs) in particular. “An additional growth factor in Europe is impending EU legislation requiring certain levels of plastics recovered from end-of-life (EOL) vehicles to be recycled and reused in new vehicles sold in the region, which is likely to be mandated from 2036 onwards,” says Moore. While this is six years later than the EU’s initial target of 2030, long qualification periods required for structural parts in particular signals that components containing recycled content will emerge at scale much sooner. “Lower quality base resins on account of their recycled content will require higher levels of compatibilization and impact modification to ensure that PP compounds meet OEM performance standards, and POEs are the natural enabler,” Moore explains.

Monomaterial packaging

Sealant film is viewed as a promising market for POPs, particularly considering the trend towards increased adoption of monomaterial, multilayer flexible packaging structures but with one major one caveat. Suppliers of metallocene-catalyzed LLDPE are marketing sealant film grades with POP-like densities that incorporate less hexene or octene comonomer compared to POPs. “Such materials have a cost advantage versus pure POPs and often, their sealing properties are more than sufficient for the application at hand,” says Moore.

Chinese supply challenges

On the supply side, incumbent POE/POP suppliers from North America, Europe, Japan and South Korea no longer have the market to themselves. To an extent in line with China’s national policy to localize high-tech industrial inputs, several new suppliers of POE and POP have started commercial operations in China over the past few years. “We have observed some new suppliers facing issues in producing challenging solar encapsulant grades at a commercial level, but such materials should eventually emerge once these new players become more accustomed to operating solution-phase assets,” says Moore.

Caption: POE and EVA will continue to coexist as solar module encapsulant materials, with the former enjoying stronger growth rates. Image: MLT Analytics

*For the purposes of this report POPs are defined as ethylene-based, metallocene-catalyzed plastomers of density 0.890–≤0.915, while POEs are defined as ethylene-based, metallocene-catalyzed elastomers of density ≤0.889.

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