China to Be World’s Biggest PP Consumer

China to Be World’s Biggest PP Consumer

China will soon surpass the U.S. as the world’s largest consumer of polypropylene resins, according the new 9th edition of the Polypropylene Annual Report from Phillip Townsend Associates, Inc. in Houston. Five years ago, China consumed only 60% as much PP as the U.S. But the report predicts that China’s consumption will continue to grow twice as fast as the U.S.’s, leaving China will 20% higher PP usage by 2007.

The two primary Chinese producers, Sinopec and PetroChina, are already among the world’s largest PP producers. Sinopec is the second largest producer in the world, according to Townsend researchers, while PetroChina is the 13th largest maker but plans to double its capacity by 2007. Nonetheless, China currently consumes 5.5 billion lb more PP than it produces each year, a shortfall that will almost double by 2007.

Meanwhile, India’s PP consumption is growing even faster than China’s, according to the Townsend report. India will add another 880 million lb/yr of capacity in the next five years, but its consumption will grow by double that amount.

For more information on the report, contact Shari Gangestad at (281) 873-8733, ext. 132 or e-mail [email protected].