Global Ethylene Market - Asia-Pacific Region to Drive Modest Growth, While US Adds Largest Capacity by 2017

Monday 16 December 2013, Amsterdam

The global ethylene market is forecast to increase slightly in the coming years, climbing from $131.88 billion in 2012 to $177.83 billion by 2017, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 6.2%.

According to the company’s latest report, the Asia-Pacific region will drive the ethylene industry, with its own market expected to increase from $50.59 billion in 2012 to $71.63 billion by 2017, at a CAGR of 7.2%. North America will rank just behind, growing from $37.78 billion in 2012 to $46.61 billion 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 tons per year (MMTY) in 2012 to 67.40 MMTY 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 MMTY in 2012 to 36.49 MMTY by 2017, at a CAGR of 6.1%.

Ashok Pant, the Senior Analyst covering Chemicals, 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 alsoboasted 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.