Rapidly rising consumption of polypropylene in China

24-Mar-05

Robust economic growth in China for almost two decades has led to rising consumption of polypropylene. China's demand for polypropylene has not only grown at a fast pace in the past decade, but, in the next five years, both production and demand will continue to grow. Since 1990, the country's polypropylene consumption has grown 17.8% annually. In 2000, the consumption of polypropylene increased to 6.1 million metric tons and Chinese domestic production stood at 3.1 million metric tons. As demand advances at a rapid pace, China strives to increase PP output, forecast to rise to 9.5 million metric tons by 2010. However, the wide gap between demand and supply will get wider, as China's demand for polypropylene is forecast to rise to 9.5 million metric tons by the end of 2005. Despite new facility construction and capacity expansions, China's polypropylene demand will continue to outstrip the supply. The country will continue to depend upon polypropylene imports throughout the next century.