Thermoset Plastics: Output On Rise, But Likely To Slow: Production of phenolics, polyesters, and epoxides is forecast to grow into 1985 and then slow, pulling down growth rates to zero to 5%

It's a heady time for producers of three major thermoset plastics— phenolics, polyesters, and epoxies. This year's production of all three resins is running well ahead of 1983 production, and well above recession lows. And prospects are good that these gains will continue into 1985, but at much slower rates. Producers are braced for the eventuality of a slowdown. For five years after 1978, production of these thermoset resins followed a major dip that left producers with a substantial decline in output. A similar situation could begin in 1985 unless all kinds of construction grow again at the high rates of the 1970s. Fortunately, as experts see it, the coming dips in resin production won't be as large as they were in the 1980-82 era. But they will pull down average growth rates over the next five years to between zero and 5%. Analysts have said that describing the thermoset market is like describing the ...