But margins are under pressure from high feedstock costs

Surging demand from the optical media sector is pushing growth in global polycarbonate consumption to near double digit levels and tightening the supply/demand balance for the polymer, according to BayerMaterialScience’s UK team.

In an article in today’s PRW, John Ellis says DVD demand is a key factor in the boom, with summer smash Shrek 2 alone spurring sales of as many as 40 million discs. However, it is the soaring demand for recordable media that is the biggest single stimulus. By next year, BMS estimates optical discs will account for 800,000 tonnes of polycarbonate out of a global market of some 2.4 million tonnes.

The demand levels are putting PC supplies under pressure following plant problems in the US with GE reportedly declaring force majeure at one point earlier this year. “There is an element of restricted availability,” confirms Ellis, who is responsible for the PC marketing unit of BMS in the UK and Ireland.

PC feedstocks such as phenol and acetone have been soaring in price. “We can’t continue to take these feedstock hikes; there is severe pressure on margins,” says Ellis. This month saw the company add E400 a tonne to its Makrolon price and a further E200 a tonne has been announced effective 6 September.