Global Polyethylene Consumption

Figure 8.7 Global consumption of polyethylene by type (2008). (Total demand -169 billion pounds (2008) C. Lee and B. B. Singh, Chemical Marketing Resources, Webster, TX, personal communication, June, 2009).

Polyethylene is the highest volume plastic available today. Global consumption of polyethylene was about 150 billion pounds (67.8 million metric tons) in 2006 and is forecast to grow to about 185 billion pounds (82.9 million metric tons) in 2010 Polyethylene demand, total capacity and percent operating rates from 1995 to 2010 are shown in Figure 1 Polyethylene is composed of mainly carbon and hydrogen (with some notable exceptions such as ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer, acid copolymers, etc.) which can be combined in number of ways. Various polyethylene molecular architectures have been commercialized over last 70 years to make different types of polyethylene. These various molecular architectures can be grouped into ten major types of polyethylene ... 

The highest global consumption of any plastic coupled with the many distinct types of commercially available polyethylenes are testament to the rich history of major innovations in products, processes and breadth of applications of polyethylene. This chapter will give a historical perspective of these innovations in polyethylene including a breadth of product applications of polyethylene and the impact of metallocene polyethylenes commercialized in last 15 years. A very recent innovation of olefin block copolymers by The Dow Chemical Company will be described and some remarks will be made on future product innovations and trends. 

HOPE, LDPE, and LLDPE are the three main types of commercial polyethylenes with a combined global consumption of >80 Mt/year. HDPE is a strictly linear homopolymer while LDPE is a long-branched homopolymer because of the different methods of polymerization. LLDPE, on the other hand, is a linear ethylene copolymer with small amounts of a-olefin comonomers such as butene, hexene, or octene. Traditionally, polyethylenes are classified according to the densities. The density of polyethylene decreases as the branching and/or comonomer content increases. The crystallinity and the properties associated with crystallinity, such as stiffness, strength, and chemical resistance, progressively decrease from HDPE to LDPE/LLDPE to POE grades. 

The SRI Consulting Group reported that global consumption of polyethylene in 2010 was approximately 154 billion pounds (70 million metric tons) and required an 82% capacity utilization rate. The consumption for each of the three types was [5] ... 

Global consumption of polyethylene in 2007 was approximately 66 million metric tons, or 145 billion pounds, with a global capacity utilization rate of 86%. About 106 billion pounds were manufactured using a low-pressure process and 39 billion pounds manufactured with a high-pressure process. Table 5.2 summarizes the consumption by product types [2]. 

Type of Polyethylene (%) Process High/Low Pressure 2007 Global Consumption ... 

Polyolefins are the largest volume, most versatile, most cost effective, industrial plastic resins available in the marketplace today. Together, polyethylene (HDPE, LLDPE, LDPE) and polypropylene represent about 60% of global plastic consumption. 

Globally, polyethylene has the highest consumption of all polymers (55 M tonnes in 2002, predicted by Maack Business Services to rise to 66 M by 2005) followed by polypropylene and PVC. Total world consmnption is estimated at 165 M tonnes. 

Of all the FR types, metal hydroxides are sold in the largest tonnage, constituting well over 40% of the global FR market, and about 44% of the Western European market. ATH is especially popular in sohd smface polyester and acrylic composites because of its low cost, which is not expected to increase much in the near future, whereas several other FRs are expected to become progressively more expensive because of their dependence on oil or bromine. The amount of magnesium hydroxide (MGH) used is only a small fraction of ATH consumption at present, but it has increased significantly because of the desire to replace PVC by polyethylene in applications like wire and cable. 

Synthetic polymeric plastic materials accumulate in the environment at a rate of 25 million metric tonnes per armum. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) are all used globally in large quantities. In terms of consumption, PVC is the third most important thermoplastic material with widespread applications ranging from packaging to healthcare devices, toys, building materials, electrical wire insulation, clothes and furnishing [2],... 

Plastemart.com (2010) Global Polyethylene consumption in 2008 declined by almost 4%. http //www.plastemart.com/Plastic-Technical Article.asp LiteraturelD=1407 Paper= Global Polyethylene-consiunption-demand-2008-dedine-4percent... 

The increase in global polyethylene consumption was 14% for the six year period 2004-2010, which corresponds to an annual increase of just over 2%. It is important to note that in late 2008, the global economy experienced a deep recession and the global economic growth slightly declined between 2008 and 2010. 

To better illustrate the relatively advanced growth stage of the North American polyethylene market compared to the total of the other four global regions, a comparison of the annual per capita consumption of polyethylene for 2006 in North America vs the remainder of the globe is shown in Table 1.8. 

The ptupose of the discussion of the North American polyethylene market in terms of annual per capita consumption, compared to the atmual per capita consumption of the global polyethylene market, was to illustrate the relatively advanced growth stage the North American market occupies compared to the remainder of the world. 

If such an increase in the global middle class were to be reached by 2030, the global annual consumption of polyethylene could reach approximately 400 billion pounds over the 2009 annual production of polyethylene of about 150 billion pounds. 

Table 5.2 Global polyethylene consumption by product type.

However by the end of 2010 consumption continued to expand, with a global polyethylene consumption of 154 billion poimds, which is a 6% increase over the 2007 period summarized above. Ihe consumption data for the individual segments of the polyethylene market for 2010 were HDPE, 69 bilHon pounds LLDPE, 46 billion poimds and LDPE, 39 billion pounds. 

---