Friction products have been used for over 100 years with the rise of the automobile providing a burgeoning market for these materials. Indeed, many of the leading friction materials firms can trace their lineage back to this period. When the ban on asbestos was enacted in 1989, a number of companies cast about for a suitable replacement. The friction materials intended to replace asbestos, non-asbestos organics (NAO), captured many of the markets that asbestos friction materials used to occupy. Other types of friction materials became much more popular such as semi-metallic and low metallic friction materials. Thus the industry was able to adapt, and subsequently adopted new friction materials, resulting in a period of growth.

According to a recently updated report from Business Communications Company, Inc, RGB-212R The Friction Product and Materials Market, the worldwide market for friction products is currently estimated at $6.8 billion. This market is expected to grow to $7.75 billion by 2008 corresponding to an average annual growth rate of 2.6% through this forecast period.

Both OE (original equipment) and aftermarket ground (or road) transportation applications (light vehicles and medium- and heavy-duty trucks) represent the largest single market for friction materials, generally accounting for 57% of the total. Another significant market is that for friction materials in aircraft/aerospace, a segment drastically affected by the 1990s reduction of defense spending and the aftermath of September 11th, which hammered the airline industry and hence aircraft orders. However, recovery of global air transportation and increased defense spending, especially in the U.S., heralds an improved outlook for friction products in this segment. Friction products are also found in a number of industries ranging from household appliances to heavy construction equipment. Railway, construction and other off-road, oilfield, and other industrial applications typically account for the remaining 34%.

Within certain industries the mixture of friction products is changing dramatically. Asbestos and non-asbestos organic products represent a mature technology, and will offer only modest business opportunities during the next five years. Sintered and other metallic products will offer similar growth opportunities. It is carbon-carbon composites that will offer the best opportunities. This is partially driven by the dynamism of the aircraft/aerospace business but also by the inherent performance characteristics of this technology. This will engender renewed opportunities for carbon fibers, partially oxidized polyacrylonitrile (POA), aramid, ceramic, metal, and other advanced fibers. New technologies -- carbon metal matrix composites (MMCs) consisting of metal base fibers of aluminum, magnesium, titanium, copper, and alloys as well as carbon-silicon carbide (C-SiC) and other advanced ceramics -- are emerging and gaining acceptance.

Friction materials are produced by a large diverse industry that is quite mature. As the materials that have gone into friction products have changed, so have the companies that produce these materials. Conglomerates have swallowed up many of the smaller and medium-sized firms. Both large and small corporations now produce friction materials. In several of the major segments of the industry, notably over-the-road trucks and in light vehicles, there is a fair amount of overcapacity, especially in North America. This overcapacity, coupled with improvements in the longevity of friction materials, has put enormous pressure on the industry. Further pressure on the industry comes from automobile manufacturers who are extremely price sensitive.