U.S. adhesives consumption continued to grow in 2015, a positive trend that began after the culmination of the global recession seven years ago. Compared to 2014, the market has increased by 3% in value terms to $11.3 billion, and by 18% when compared with 2008. The recovery seen in certain consumer industries— construction and car manufacturing— is the driving factor behind this growth.
The U.S. adhesives market is loosely dependent on imports from abroad: from 2010-2015, the imports share in terms of consumption did not exceed 12%. The imports structure was dominated by products from Canada (in value terms, Canada accounted for 28% of the adhesives imported into the U.S. in 2015); Germany was in second place (17%), followed by Mexico (10%) and China (8%). Canada and Mexico are also among the largest importers of U.S.-manufactured adhesives, due to their geographical proximity and the supportive trading conditions; in 2015, their share in U.S. exports amounted to 37% and 22%, respectively.