APIC ’12: Strong growth eyed for India petrochemical industry

18 May 2012 03:59  [Source: ICIS news]

By Tahir Ikram

KUALA LUMPUR (ICIS)--India’s petrochemical industry is expected to register robust growth in the years ahead provided it continues with efforts towards enhancing its competitive advantage, an industry executive said on Friday.

“The petrochemical industry in India is expected to accelerate growth in the remaining months of 2012 – a trend which is projected to continue in the coming years,” said Kamal Nanavaty, vice president of the Chemicals and Petrochemicals Manufacturers Association (CPMA) of India.

Nanavaty was speaking at the 34th annual Asia Petrochemicals Industry Conference (APIC) being held in Kuala Lumpur on 17-18 May.

“In the aftermath of 2008 [financial] crisis, [the] prognosis for the petrochemical industry of India is still bright and analysts expect it to grow at a 15% CARG [compound annual rate of growth]," Nanavaty said.

He said competitiveness is key to sustained economic growth at the global, regional and national level.

“Hence, irrespective of whether the industry is at the peak or trough of the cycle, it is vital that we pursue every available avenue to enhance competitiveness,” he added.

India’s polymer demand growth is expected to grow at a faster pace of 8-12% in 2012-2013, after registering a subdued demand growth of 4.6% in 2011, according to the country’s petrochemical industry association in a report released on Friday.

India’s ethylene capacity increased by 8% to 4.03m tonnes in 2011, while its propylene capacity grew 3.4% to 3.96m tonnes, with some 807,000 tonnes/year of capacity expected to be added by 2013.

Butadiene (BD) demand in the country registered a nominal growth of 0.8% in 2011 and is expected to grow at a faster rate of 2% in 2012.

By 2013, demand for butadiene is expected to jump by 50% with the expected start-ups of new styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) and butadiene rubber (BR) plants.

Meanwhile, India does not produce styrene locally and is fully dependent on imports.

Its demand for styrene totalled 525,000 tonnes/year in 2011, registering a growth of 11%. India expects the same demand growth this year and next year.

In 2011, paraxylene (PX) demand increased by 3.5% and is expected to moderate to 2.1% in 2012, before recovering in 2013, when an 8.7% growth is expected.

India’s domestic PX capacity stood at 2.50m tonnes/year in 2011, with no new capacity coming up in 2012 and 2013, according to the report.

Read John Richardson and Malini Hariharan’s blog – Asian Chemical Connections

By: Tahir Ikram
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