Trends in demand and supply from propylene to intermediate acrylonitrile

14-Nov-08

Asia dominates the production capacity of propylene, accounting for 36% of the global capacity. On the demand side, it is also the major consumer of propylene. During 2007, it consumed 28.6 million tons of propylene, accounting for almost 39% of global demand. During the year, its appetite for propylene increased 8%, the highest increase in the last four years. North America, which 4 years ago consumed almost 30% of global propylene now accounts for around 25%, the second largest propylene consuming region. During 2007, North America consumed 24.5 million tons of propylene which was almost the same as the previous year's level. The third largest consumer was Western Europe. In 2007, it accounted for 21% of global propylene with volumes at 17.2 million tons. Global acrylonitrile production and consumption increased 6.8% and 8.3% respectively in 2007. This was much higher than the respective growth rate of 4.9% and 3.9% during the 10-year period of 1997-2007. The growth of 2007 mostly came from Asia which saw production grow 18% and consumption by 20%. However, the trend was negative in North America and Western Europe. In USA, output was down 6% while demand fell by a significant 17%. Similarly, production in Western Europe declined 4% and consumption was down 9%. Research and Markets' report, Propylene/Acrylonitrile Global Analysis: 2008, is packed with up-to-date statistics and objective analysis of the trends in demand and Supply on the entire value chain beginning from propylene to intermediate acrylonitrile.