Business news on November 17: driven by emerging economies such as China, India, Latin America and central Europe, it is estimated that polymer demand will grow faster than global GDP from 2011 to 2014, with an annual growth rate of more than 5%. According to the statistics of CMAI (Houston), the global polymer consumption in 2009 was about 176 million tons, of which polyethylene consumption accounted for 38%, close to 67 million tons. Based on the annual growth rate of more than 5%, the demand for polyethylene will exceed 87 million tons in 2014. High density polyethylene (HDPE) accounts for 17% of global polymer demand, about 30 million tons; linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) account for 11% and 10%, respectively. The strong growth in LLDPE and HDPE demand is attributed to the increase in the use of packaging and non durable goods, with LLDPE and HDPE being the majority of new LDPE production capacity in the world. In 2010, the economy bottomed out and rebounded, with rapid demand growth. At present, the supply of polyethylene in the U.S. market is tightening, with the operating rate reaching 90%. The situation of European market is similar to that of the United States. The domestic market of Germany will continue to grow and the export market will gradually strengthen. The market of Turkey will grow by more than 10% annually and all regions in the world will be higher than that of 2009. It is predicted that the growth of polyethylene demand in 2011 will not be as significant as this year, closer to the GDP growth level, and will increase by 4.5% to 5.5%. In 2009, most of the polyethylene products of the United States were exported to China, which is undergoing large-scale infrastructure construction. This year, more exports to Canada and Mexico. The decrease in US exports of Chinese products is due to the slowdown in China's economic growth and the entry of more new capacity into the Chinese market to compete. The impact of new capacity in the Middle East is weaker than expected, because some Middle East production capacity is not put into production on schedule, and the pace of capacity growth is slower than expected. Next year, with new production capacity put into production and new products put into the market, it will take longer for the global market to reach a balance between supply and demand. North American producers will not compete with Middle Eastern producers whose main target markets are China, Latin America and Europe. Some producers have announced the closure of some of their lost capacity in response to fierce market competition. LyondellBasell closed 185000 T / a LDPE plant in Carrington, UK. Last year, total Petrochemical closed two LDPE plants in carling and gonfreville, France. This year, Nordic chemical will close 150000 T / a LDPE capacity in Stenungsund. Recently, Saudi Basic Industry Company closed 120000 T / a LDPE plant in Geleen, Netherlands. ExxonMobil expands butyl rubber production capacity according to a recent report on the downstream network of the United States today. ExxonMobil Chemical subsidiary ExxonMobil Co., Ltd. announced that its Japanese Butyl Rubber Co., Ltd. has completed the expansion of its Kawasaki butyl rubber plant, with a capacity increase of 18000 tons / year, bringing its total butyl rubber production capacity to 98000 tons / year, so as to meet the growing butyl rubber in the Asia Pacific market Rubber demand. This expansion of the company adopts the new process technology recently developed by ExxonMobil Chemical. For example, a new patented technology can make the polymerization temperature of butyl polymer reach - 75 ℃, while the reaction temperature of conventional technology is - 95 ℃, which can greatly reduce energy consumption and save investment. ExxonMobil Chemical is the industry leader in the development and application of high-end butyl rubber polymers. Its products have a longer life, can save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, thus bringing higher added value. In order to meet the growing demand of butyl rubber industry, Japan Butyl Rubber Co., Ltd. has expanded its capacity many times in recent years. This expansion is also to further serve the growing butyl rubber market. In 2008, ExxonMobil Chemical increased the capacity of its butyl rubber plant in becheng, Texas, by 60%. Prior to that, Japan Butyl Rubber Co., Ltd. has increased the capacity of its Luzhou halogenated butyl rubber plant by 17000 tons / year in 2006.
