With the majority of its applications in the fields of automotive and electrical/electronics, polyphenylene sulphide (PPS) has since become established as a popular high-performance material. Although the market for PPS declined last year by around 15 % in global terms due to the weakness of the economy, it nevertheless managed to stabilise in Europe. In view of the ever-advancing miniaturisation, the mounting demands being made on chemical and heat resistance, and the development of new PPS grades and blends also for demanding extruded and blow-moulded parts - it is expected that the market volume will grow to over 70 000 t by 2005.