Market Advisory Service - Asia, Middle East & India Plastics & Polymers

Duration: Short-term – 2-year price forecast and market outlook

The commodity plastics (PE, PP, PVC, PET, PS) industry is going through the toughest time in history. Production capacities, led by China, have grown rapidly during the last 5 years. However, demand growth has considerably slowed down. China, the main growth engine of plastics demand growth during the first two decades of this millennium has considerably slowed down. This itself has inflicted a huge blow to the plastics demand growth globally. The matured markets of North America, West Europe and Northeast Asia (ex. China) had anyways plateaued by the beginning of the millennium. Thus, the onus of plastics demand growth was on the emerging markets in Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America, with China being at the forefront. New capacity additions were planned based on the expectations of continuing rapid demand growth in major emerging markets during the third decade of the millennium. However, that has not happened. This divergence in growth rates for capacity vs demand has placed the relatively high cost plastics producers in Asia at a considerable disadvantage. Despite the recent slowdown, emerging Asia remains the primary growth engine for plastics demand growth, thus attracting trade flows from around the globe, particularly the low-cost producers of the Middle East, North America and East Europe.

Comprehensive monthly market price, supply, demand, and trade data and analysis for:

• Polyethylene (PE)
• Polypropylene (PP)
• Polystyrene (PS)
• Expandable Polystyrene (EPS)
• Polyethylene Terephthalate, Bottle Resin (PET)
• Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)

Duration: Short-term – 2-year price forecast and market outlook

In the plastics world of the widening gap between new capacities and demand, competitive cost and market segmentation have become critical for the survival of the producers. Asian producers who have developed supply chains to source ethane from the US continue to maintain profitability even while the naphtha-based producers are reeling under negative margins. Producers sourcing feedstock like propane, coal, methanol etc. are also struggling to break even due to intensely competitive markets and high feedstock costs. In such a scenario, producers who have strategically moved up the product value chain by establishing higher value-added Advanced Polymers have managed to survive and stay profitable. However, even for these producers, the rapid incursion of Chinese producers into these product chains is starting to affect the viability of the existing producers.

In such a dynamic plastics world, just reviewing the past does not provide answers to the future market outlook. One needs to strategically analyze the evolving market landscape and devise business plans to survive and thrive. Chemical Market Analytics has deep expertise in the entire plastics value chain, from Oil and Gas to end-users of plastics raw materials. This makes it the go-to provider of data, information, analysis and insights to the industry.

Duration: Short-term – 2-year price forecast and market outlook