What Is POM Material? 2025 Market Insights, Applications, and Global Supply Trends

In the global manufacturing industry ‘lightweight’, “intelligent” and ‘multi-functional integration’ to accelerate the background, POM (paraformaldehyde) is rapidly from the traditional engineering plastics to the core position of ‘high alternative value materials’. The core position of ‘high alternative value materials’. Especially in the automotive, 3C, precision industry, electrical and electronic segments, POM is no longer just a replacement for metal, but also a solution that connects efficiency, cost, performance and sustainability.

01 | What Is POM Material

Structure Determines Performance

POM is a crystalline polymer made from formaldehyde polymerisation and is divided into two types:

  ・Homopolymer POM-H (e.g. DuPont Delrin): high degree of molecular chain regularity, better strength and hardness;

  ・Co-polymer POM-C (e.g. Kepital, Korea Engineering Plastics): better thermal stability for processing, less dimensional change and better chemical resistance.

Both have the following core properties:

  ・High strength and rigidity: can maintain low deformation under prolonged loading;

  ・Excellent wear resistance with low coefficient of friction: suitable for sliding parts;

  ・Excellent dimensional stability: suitable for applications with high precision requirements;

  ・Strong fatigue resistance: can withstand long term alternating stress;

  ・Good chemical resistance: resistant to a wide range of solvents and oils;

  ・Low water absorption: low effect of changes in ambient humidity.

02 | POM: Why renewed interest in 2025?

POM was once considered a ‘mature, stable’ engineering material and has been widely used for many years. But after 2024, the material is back on the radar of the raw materials trade and brand manufacturers for three reasons:

  ・Lightweight manufacturing upgrades: OEMs and appliance manufacturers are demanding ‘lighter, more wear-resistant, and cheaper’ structural components, and POM has a natural advantage;

  ・Rising metal prices and processing costs: POM has controllable costs and low energy consumption for processing, making it a more economical alternative;

  ・The supply chain is more risk-resistant: especially in the emerging manufacturing bases in South Asia and Eastern Europe, POM is easier than metal to establish local processing + assembly systems.

For overseas moulders and OEMs, this means - the sooner they find a stable POM raw material partner, the easier it will be for them to capture the dividends of structural component order growth.

03 | POM Application Potential Explosion Areas from Buyer's Perspective

Juyuan maintains long-term raw material supply cooperation with customers in more than 20 countries around the world, and the following are the hot growth areas from frontline buyers' feedback:

Sourcing Trends Keywords: Metal Replacement | Precision Injection Moulding | Stable Supply | Food/Medical Approvals | Process Versatility

04 | Global POM Market: New Opportunities in Structural Loosening

  ・Japan and South Korea Capacity Tightening: In the first half of 2025, South Korea and Japan part of the original POM plant overhaul, delivery fluctuations make the Middle East, Southeast Asia customers looking for alternative channels.

  ・China's export price-performance ratio advantage: the RMB exchange rate and freight rates are both low, with international competitiveness;

  ・Europe's green trend to promote the use of copolymer POM: especially in Italy, Germany, the market, the low formaldehyde release and part of the bio-based POM showed a tendency to purchase;

  ・Strong emerging demand for moulding and processing in India/Vietnam: from sourcing to on-site processing, material suppliers with strong technical support capabilities are preferred.

Juyuan Insights: In our Q2 2025 export data, average inquiries for POM increased by about 19%, with buyers in South America and South Asia focusing on wear-resistant structural parts and thin-wall injection moulding materials.

05 | Technical Strength vs Procurement Suitability: How to choose POM materials?

POM materials are not ‘one size fits all’, and the processing window and application suitability of different models vary greatly. The following is a breakdown of the indicators that are often looked at by purchasers:

  ・Match of processing method: Is it suitable for efficient injection moulding/thin-wall moulding?

  ・Dimensional stability and post-processing performance: whether machining, tapping, cutting is easy to burst?

  ・Environmental protection and certification: Can it meet export requirements (RoHS, REACH, FDA, etc.)?

  ・Logistics and delivery time: Does it provide CIF/DDP or fast customs clearance?

Juyuan can recommend the following materials:

06 | Trade Cooperation Suggestions: Key Points for Raw Material Dealers/Distributors

If you are a raw material distributor, injection moulding factory, OEM manufacturer, mould developer, POM cooperation suggestions:

✅ Selection Service Package

Juyuan can provide Chinese/English TDS + Processing Adaptation Suggestions, support technical preliminary selection and sampling.

✅ Multi-region logistics solutions

Southeast Asia, Europe, Central and South America can provide multi-location transit shipments, support CIF / DDP, etc., to reduce the barriers to customs clearance.

✅ Mixed Order Support

We can ship mixed orders according to customers' needs to reduce the risk of warehousing and overstocking.

✅ Market Intelligence Feedback

We provide regular feedback on regional market demand to help customers determine whether to lock orders and stock up in advance.

Conclusion: POM, not just plastic, is to seize the wind mouth of precision structural parts of the ‘raw material main force’

In the global material procurement is from ‘cheap to buy’ to ‘buy the right, use the right’ upgraded trend. Under the trend of global material procurement is upgrading from ‘buy cheap’ to ‘buy right, use right’, POM material is not only the representative of cost performance, but also an indispensable part of structural engineering transformation.

Juyuan will continue to provide global customers with stable, professional POM material solutions that match the application scenarios, from selection to delivery, from standard to customised, using raw materials to connect your manufacturing capabilities and market opportunities.