Global ethylene market to rise to US$177.83 bln by 2017, at a CAGR of 6.2%

19-Dec-13

The global ethylene market is forecast to increase slightly in the coming years, climbing from US$131.88 bln in 2012 to US$177.83 bln by 2017, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.2%, as per Market Research Reports. The Asia-Pacific region will drive the ethylene industry, with its own market expected to increase from US$50.59 bln in 2012 to US$71.63 bln by 2017, at a CAGR of 7.2%. North America will rank just behind, growing from US$37.78 bln in 2012 to US$46.61 bln by 2017, at a CAGR of 4.3%. Additionally, Asia-Pacific will continue to be the largest region in terms of capacity addition, growing from 49.67 million tpa in 2012 to 67.40 million tpa by 2017, at a CAGR of 6.3%. Furthermore, due to heavy investment from petrochemical companies, the US capacity addition is forecast to witness a significant boost, jumping from 27.17 million tpa in 2012 to 36.49 million tpa by 2017, at a CAGR of 6.1%. Senior analyst of this report, says: “Less expensive ethane derived from US wet shale gas makes ethylene production highly attractive, and drives large scale capacity additions. Firms such as The Dow Chemical Company, Chevron Phillips, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell are betting on the US becoming increasingly competitive, and are constructing ethane crackers to produce cost-advantaged ethylene.” With regards to Asia-Pacific’s dominance in the ethylene market, Pant says that there are two main reasons for the historical growth: insatiable demand from China’s large and growing population for polyethylene and ethylene oxide, and the country's resilient economy during the recession. The Asia-Pacific region also boasted a relatively faster post-recession recovery time, causing minimum demand loss. The major sectors that consume ethylene are polyethylene, ethylene oxide, ethylene dichloride and ethylbenzene. These industries accounted for a massive 94% of global consumption in 2012.