India's consumption of petrochemicals is likely to soar on rapid growth in domestic demand for consumer items as well as construction activity, said K.G. Ramanathan, president of the Chemicals & Petrochemicals Manufacturers' Association of India, Platts reported.
India is poised to maintain a high rate of economic growth and with consumer electronics and durables, automobiles, construction, infrastructure, and packaging sectors soaring, India's polymer consumption will be propelled to new levels in the coming years, he said at the Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference at Fukuoka, Japan. Citing various estimates by economists, he said India's GDP growth was expected to be about 9% in 2011 and 2012.
As a result, demand for polymers grew 21% in 2010 and 22% in 2009, likely to rise 15% in 2011 to 9.7 million mt and to 11.2 million mt in 2012, he added. India's per capita consumption of polymers was still low at 6 kg, compared with 73 kg in the US, 33 kg in China and 24 kg in Brazil, Ramanathan said. But he expressed concern over rising commodity prices. "Downside risks of global events, particularly the movement in prices of commodities like crude oil, persisting inflationary trends, particularly in food items, persisting structural bottlenecks are the major concerns of policy makers," he said.
He described petrochemicals as one of the fastest growing sectors in India, adding that the sub-sectors that saw major growth were polymers, synthetic fibers and intermediates, elastomers, surfactants, glycols and performance plastics. The reliance on imported naphtha, which recently saw a lot of volatility in price, had an adverse impact on the petrochemical industry's financial viability, he said. But the government's efforts to develop the country's natural gas reserves could act as a significant feedstock boost to the industry.
30-May-11 
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