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Worldwide, about 39.3 million tonnes of PVC were consumed in 2013. Ceresana expects global demand to increase by about 3.2% p.a. until 2021. With a market share of close to 56%, Asia-Pacific is the by far largest sales market, and also likely to exhibit the strongest growth in the foreseeable future. The North American and Western European markets have returned onto a growth path after incurring severe losses in previous years.
Worldwide PVC Demand Continues to Rise
The construction industry is the prime sales market for PVC products. The Chinese construction industry continues to grow at higher rates than in most other countries, even though dynamics are slowing down somewhat. In addition to China, India is one of the growth motors on the PVC market, demand is projected to increase by 4.9% per year. The USA suffered from weak domestic demand in past years, but are seeing local demand for PVC products rise again, thanks to a more positive development of the construction sector. In Western Europe, the crisis-affected countries along the Mediterranean Sea seem to have reached the bottom of the valley by now, and markets in Germany, France and the United Kingdom remain comparatively stable. Therefore, consumption of PVC in Western Europe is projected to rise again by about 1% in upcoming years.
Dynamic Market for PVC
US producers of PVC have been able to offset low domestic demand by a considerable increase of export volume, as feedstock costs in the USA fell notably due to the shale gas boom US manufacturers could capitalize on low prices when competing on the international market.
In Europe, weak demand in recent years led to high market dynamics: Small and medium sized producers were either acquired by competitors or disappeared from the market. As a result, individual countries, e.g. Italy, ceased producing PVC altogether. While some large-scale manufacturers like Arkema sold their PVC business, Solvay and INEOS merged their divisions: The joint venture Inovyn is expected to become operational at the end of 2014. Market researchers at Ceresana believe the founding of this by far largest European PVC manufacturer to be yet another sign of increasing pressure for market concentration.
While capacity utilization in North America and Western Europe is very high already, Asia-Pacific in particular is still exhibiting notable excess capacity. China, the worldwide largest manufacturer of PVC, is therefore capable of increasing output without any trouble at all in order to satisfy rising domestic demand. Chinese producers mainly rely on coal-based vinyl chloride to manufacture PVC, whereas other countries, for example the USA, are exclusively using ethylene-based vinyl chloride.
PVC Applications Vary
Among the most important PVC products are pipes and conduits, at a considerable distance followed by plastic PVC profiles as well as films and sheets. Other applications accounting for noteworthy shares of PVC demand include cables and cable sheathing as well as floorings. Other industrial applications are automotive coatings, medical products like infusion bags, and shoes. While development of individual application areas will remain highly balanced in the upcoming eight years, there are various differences to be seen when it comes to world regions. Asian-Pacific countries, first and foremost India and China, and the Middle East produce a comparatively large amount of PVC pipes. Turkey and Russia, on the other hand, report a high output share for profiles, resulting in Eastern European demand for PVC being highest in the segment profiles. Germany also utilizes the majority of its PVC to produce profiles; the German market is currently profiting from the boom of energy efficient refurbishment.
The Study in Brief:
In chapter 1, the most important facts regarding production, processing and properties of PVC are summarized briefly.
Chapter 2 is a presentation and analysis of the global PVC market. Development of demand and revenues as well as production and existing capacities are analyzed for the world as a whole and for individual regions.
In Chapter 3, 35 countries are analyzed in detail, data cover PVC demand, revenues, production, and trade in the past eight years; additionally, this chapter provides forecasts up to 2021. Demand for PVC in individual application areas is analyzed for the most important countries.
Chapter 4 is an in-depth analysis of the individual application areas of PVC, such as pipes & conduits, profiles, films & sheets, cables & cable sheathing, flooring, and other applications. Data on demand development, split by Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa as well as consumption figures for the most important countries will be given.
Chapter 5 provides company profiles of PVC manufacturers, clearly arranged according to contact details, turnover, profit, product range, production sites, profile summary, capacities, and brand names. Extensive profiles of 100 manufacturers are given, including Axiall, Braskem, CNCC, Formosa Plastics Group, INEOS, LG Chem, Mexichem, Occidental Petroleum, Shin-Etsu Chemical and Solvay.
About Ceresana
Ceresana (ceresana.com) is a leading international market research and consultancy company for the industrial sector and operates branch offices in Constance, Vienna and Hong Kong. For more than 10 years, it has been supplying several thousand customers from 55 countries with up-to-date market intelligence. Extensive market knowledge creates new prospects for strategic and operational decisions.
Ceresana's clients profit from practical consulting services, tailor-made single-client studies and more than 60 independent multi-client market studies.
The Ceresana business analysts are specialists in markets chemicals, plastics, additives, commodities, industrial components, packaging, and construction materials.
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