Poor Car Sales to See European Butadiene Production Overtake Demand

Tuesday 27 November 2012, Amsterdam

European production of Butadiene, the chemical required to create the synthetic rubber used for tyres, will soon overtake demand for the first time since 2000 as a result of the continent’s shrinking car industry, says industry analysts in their latest report.

The new study states that Europe’s demand for butadiene last year was 2,459,778 tons while production stood at 2,246,137 tons. However, this disparity is expected to invert in 2015 when production will outpace demand by 162,953 tons.

According to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, European car sales have shrunk for nine consecutive months in 2012, and truck demand is down for the last five months. Furthermore, it forecasts that passenger car sales in the EU will shrink 7% this year to 12.2 million vehicles, 21% below the 2007 peak, with the weakest demand since 1995.

Such deflated demand for new cars has correspondingly damaged the need for butadiene in Europe, but rather than scale back the chemical’s manufacture, companies are moving to increase production with an eye on the export market.

Major butadiene production capacity additions include LyondellBasell’s expansion of its extraction unit in Wesseling, Germany, and Versalis’s plans to build a new 70,000 ton/year unit at its Dunkirk site in France.

Last year’s global demand for butadiene stood at 10,259,583 tons and analysis expect this figure to reach 14,543,120 tons by the end of 2020, representing a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 3.9%.

Asia-Pacific is expected to continue as the world’s most butadiene-hungry region, with demand predicted to reach 8,410,981 tons before the end of decade.

This report provides the reader with detailed analysis and forecasts of the major economic and market trends affecting global butadiene demand in the major regions of the world.

This report was built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house analysis conducted by GBI Research’s team of industry experts.