Demand is expected to grow 10% this year

Demand is expected to grow 10% this year
By David Platt

Consumption of PET is expected to show another healthy rise this year. Consultancy CMAI expects the market in Western Europe to grow by as much as 10% to 2.45 million tonnes. This compares with a growth rate of 12% in 2002.

“This has been a peculiar year for European PET producers,” said John Hodgkinson, senior consultant with CMAI. “It has certainly not followed the usual seasonal pattern that characterises the PET market.”

Plants usually run flat out from the start of the year in advance of the spring buying season. This year, bottlers placed orders earlier than usual. By mid-January, orders had tailed off and operating rates for European PET resin producers fell considerably.

When demand boomed towards the summer, PET producers were only able to push through limited price rises, due to increased imports from Asia.

Despite the increasing demand, only one major European producer has announced plans to expand capacity. Dow Plastics intends to build a second PET resin production line at its Schkopau plant, which will add 175,000tpa of capacity by Q4 next year.