Asia, Middle East to drive PE/PP - Basell

29 January 2007 06:32  [Source: ICIS news]

SHANGHAI (ICIS news)--Feedstock-advantaged regions and populous countries such as China are becoming the new driving force in the global polyolefins market, a Basell official said on Monday.

Increased competition in the demand-growth regions and a surge in supply from the feedstock-advantaged Middle East will cause a supply/demand imbalance for polyolefins, Paul Cherry, Basell monomer and logistics manager for Asia Pacific and Middle East, said.

This will push the market into a trough, he added.

Global consumption of polypropylene (PP) is expected to grow by 6.4% from 2005-2011, much of which will come from Asia, Cherry said.

In China - the source of much of the additional demand - demand for polyethylene (PE) is expected to grow by 6.5% by 2011, Cherry said. PP demand in the country will grow by 8.2%, he noted.

However, much of this increased consumption of polyolefins in China will be supplied by local production, creating more competition for importers.

Cherry was speaking at the ICIS Asian Olefins conference in Shanghai. The two-day event ends on Tuesday.

By: Mark Quiner
+1 713 525 2653

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