Artificial turf refers to the surface of synthetic fibers that are made to look like natural grass. In recent years, such surfaces have been replacing natural grass, due to their various advantages, such as high durability, less wear and tear, and low maintenance requirements. Besides, the usage of artificial turf also helps in reducing the consumption of water and other hazardous fertilizers and pesticides. Owing to the benefits associated with these surfaces, their usage has significantly surged in commercial facilities and residential lawns, apart from the sports arenas.
The artificial turf market has been witnessing a substantial surge due to the expansion of the construction industry. These surfaces are rapidly replacing natural grass in stadiums, sports fields, residential houses, and commercial gardens. For instance, the construction of eight new stadiums in Qatar, on account of the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup, will require a high amount of artificial turf. As these artificial surfaces do not require water, they are viable for use in water-scarce regions such as the Middle East.
In recent years, polyethylene turf has been preferred over nylon, polyamide, and polypropylene turfs, due to the higher durability, greater resilience, and softness of polyethylene. In comparison to other artificial grass surfaces, polyethylene turf is the most realistic-looking grass. Additionally, this material has an exceptional water-resistant capacity and requires low maintenance. As it is more durable than polypropylene and softer than nylon, it is viable for use in an array of applications. Whereas, the low cost of polypropylene will amplify polypropylene-based artificial turf usage in the coming years.
In the coming years, artificial turf will be mostly used in arenas of contact sports, as such artificial grass is ideal for use in fields of contact sports such as rugby, hockey, and soccer. This layer of artificial grass is also used in non-contact sport fields and landscaping applications. For instance, the National Stadium of Tokyo, Japan is being rebuilt as a new stadium for the 2020 Summer Olympics, owing to which, artificial turf will be required in high quantity. The opening and closing ceremony, athletics events, and soccer matches of the global sports event will be held in this stadium.
With the upcoming sports events such as FIFA 2022 and 2020 Summer Olympics and expanding construction industry, on account of rapid urbanization, companies such as CCGrass, SIS Pitches, ForestGrass, TenCate Grass, Limonta Sport S.p.A., and Victoria PLC are producing artificial turf in huge quantity. Moreover, the rapid infrastructure development in emerging economies such as India and China like the building of smart cities, will augment the sales of artificial grass in the foreseeable future. Additionally, the increasing focus of oil-based economies, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, on the tourism and hospitality sectors will amplify the usage of artificial turf for landscaping purposes.
According to P&S Intelligence, Europe generates a notable demand in the artificial turf market, due to the fast-paced replacement of grass surfaced sports arenas with artificial turf, owing to its environment-friendly characteristics and superior quality. As the region is extensively involved in golf, tennis, hockey, and football, Europe adopts a large volume of artificial turf. As Europe is home to large stadiums such as Camp Nou, Wembley, Croke Park, Twickenham, and Westfalenstadion, it requires artificial grass in high quantity.
Thus, the upcoming sports events and increasing construction activities will augment the need for artificial turf in the coming years.
