China growth to create PVC demand/supply balance - Oltchim

15 October 2009 17:48  [Source: ICIS news]

PRAGUE (ICIS news)--China's continued rapid growth would mean an equalisation of world polyvinyl chloride (PVC) demand and supply rates in just over six years, Romania's Oltchim said on Thursday.

Oltchim deputy CEO Radu Olaru presented figures at an industry conference showing that this year would see only a slight improvement on 2008, when 35.8m tonnes of the worldwide PVC effective capacity (95% of nameplate capacity) of 48.8m tonnes was consumed.

However, the situation would gradually improve after 2015 and the world could be forced to deal with a PVC production shortfall, he told the World Refining Association's annual CEE Refining and Petrochemicals Conference, 

Under a recovery plan backed with Romanian state loan guarantees, Oltchim plans to spend €55.3m ($82.7m) on revamping its 450,000 tonne/year PVC plant.

It is currently abandoned because no ethylene feedstock is arriving from the closed Arpechim steam cracker owned by Romania's Petrom.  Under the plan, Oltchim also intends to acquire the cracker and restart it.

In addition, Olaru's figures showed that the world may face caustic soda and polyether polyol shortfalls by the second half of the next decade.

($1 = €0.67)

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By: Will Conroy
+44 20 8652 3214

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