Production capacity/demand

Economic Aspects. Prices of com symp since 1975 are hsted in Table 3. Production capacity, demand, and com prices affect com symp price. U.S. symp production for the 1994—1995 fiscal year was estimated at 2.9 x 10 t (dry basis) (15). 

A profile of methylene chloride is presented including US production capacities, demand, growth rate, price, uses, strength, weakness and outlook. Paint stripping and removal accounts for 30% of MeC by end-use application, adhesives 20%, metal cleaning 10%, aerosols 10%, pharmaceuticals 10%, chemical processing 10% and flexible PU foams 5%. Because of occupational concerns, users of MeC are under pressure to limit use, restrict... 

Estimated production capacity for the Japanese producers is 77,000 t/yr for the American producers, about 70,000 t/yr and for the European producers about 50,000 t/yr (104). The Hst prices for the monomer have increased dramatically over the past 15 years, according to the ChemicalM.arketing Reporter (105). In 1975 the price for 50% solution was 0.903/kg, compared to 1.68/kg in December 1990 (100% basis, FOB plant). The sohd crystalline monomer always demands a premium price because of the added cost of production, and sold in December 1990 for 2.27/kg compared to 1.09/kg in 1975. There are at least 35 supphers of acrylamide monomer most of them obviously are repackagers. 

Worldwide production capacity in 1989 was estimated to be over 15.5 x 10 t as 37 wt % formaldehyde (98). The United States, Canada, Europe, and Japan account for nearly 70% of the total capacity (98). Worldwide demand for formaldehyde in 1989 was estimated to be about 85—90% of capacity (98). 

Over 90% of the HCl produced ia the United States origiaates as a coproduct from various chlorination processes direct generation of HCl from and CI2 accounts for only about 8% of the total production. Table 11 describes the production contribution of HCl from significant sources through the period 1980 to 1992 (72). Figure 6 illustrates the historical production growth of HCl ia the United States (73). The growth rate, about 5—6% from 1955 to 1975, slowed to - 1% because of disparity between supply and demand (see Table 12). The production capacity ia 1993 was about 2.92 million metric tons, down 9.6% from the 1992 production of 3.24 million metric tons (74). 

The roster of PPS suppHers in Japan is much larger than in the United States. Multiple market presences in Japan include TOPPS (Toray PPS, formerly TO—PP, which was a joint venture between Toray and Phillips) Dainippon Ink and Chemicals, Inc. Tosoh Tohpren Kureha/Polyplastics and Idemitsu. PPS marketed by Toray is sold under the Torelina trademark. Production capacity in Japan was estimated in 1995 at 11,400 t of neat resin per year. At the time that this capacity was created, the situation in Japan was characterized by overcapacity and underutilization. Additionally, further PPS capacity was brought on by Sunkyong in Korea, which is marketing a low cost PPS product. Although excess PPS capacity still exists in Japan, market growth has narrowed the gap between supply and demand. 

PS is a global product, of which North America, Western Europe, and Southeast Asia are the principal consumers (Fig. 33). Global PS production capacity generally parallels the demand for the material (Fig. 34). However, the trend siace early 1980s has been toward narrowiag the gap between capacity and demand ia an effort to maximize the profitabiUty of the busiaess. 

Instant tea is manufactured in the United States, Japan, Kenya, Chile, Sri Lanka, India, and China. Production and consumption in the United States is greater than in the rest of the world. World production capacity of instant teas depends on market demand but is in the range of 8,000 to 11,000 t/yr (3). The basic process for manufacture of instant tea as a soluble powder from dry tea leaf includes extraction, concentration, and drying. In practice, the process is considerably more compHcated because of the need to preserve the volatile aroma fraction, and produce a product which provides color yet is soluble in cold water, all of which are attributes important to iced tea products (88). 

Manufacturing plants for thioglycolic acid and derivatives are found in Europe, the United States, and Asia. Producers in Europe are B. Bock (Germany), Elf Atochem (Erance), and Merck (Germany) in the United States Elf Atochem, Hampshire, and Witco and in Japan, Daicel. Production capacity is expected to be sufficient to supply world demand for five years. 

The United States dominated world vanadium production for ah uses until the late 1960s when several countries, notably the former USSR, expanded production significantly. At about the same time, the United States shifted from being a net exporter to a net importer this situation continues. In 1978, the United States supphed 15% of the total world production but consumed 23%. World production values and anticipated capacities are shown in Table 5 (21) U.S. production and demand, as weh as forecasts, are shown in Table 6 (21). 

Over the last decade production capacity in the United States remained essentially unchanged, but minor fluctuations occurred in response to changes in environmental regulations (38). A similar reaction was noted worldwide (35). The current demand for activated carbon is estimated at 93% of production capacity. The near-term growth in demand is projected to be approximately 5.5%/yr (39). 

The shrinkage in demand has resulted in a restmcturing of the carbon black-industry. Several of the principal multinational oil companies have left the business including Ashland, Cities Service Co., Phillips, and Conoco. Some plants have changed ownership. In the United States this has increased the production capacities of Degussa, Sid Richardson, and Huber. Today s U.S. industry consists of six principal producers. Rated capacities of the six U.S. manufacturers is shown in Table 13. Cabot Corp. and Columbian Chemicals are the leading producers, followed by Degussa, Sid Richardson, J. M. Huber Corp., and Witco. A survey of the future markets and present stmcture of the carbon black industry has been presented (1). 

Table 2. Tetrachloroethylene World Production Capacity and Demand by Region, 10 t...

Ethyleneamine production capacities for 1992, broken down by geographical area and main producers in each area, are given in Table 3. Announced expansions in 1993 will increase U.S. production by 29,500 t. Several small regional producers are expected to come on-stream in the next several years. Worldwide growth for most ethyleneamines is expected to parallel GDP. Some regional and certain appHcations demands will show somewhat higher growth rates. 

Production Capacity and Demand. The production capacity for each dye or dye intermediate has rarely been aimounced officially by the individual manufacturers. However, the world demand of anthraquinone colorants can be roughly estimated as in Table 13 and, more specifically, in Figure 13. Principal manufacturers of anthraquinone dyes and their intermediates are as follows ... 

Economic Aspects. The production of ethyl ether from 1956 through 1973 ranged from 29.5 to 48.6 x 10 kg as reported by Synthetic Organic Chemicals, U.S. Production and Sales. Production was estimated at 13.6-18 X 10 kg in 1986, 12.7 X 10 kg in 1989. Though 1990 U.S. production capacity was estimated at 25.5 x 10 kg, production was estimated as only 12 x 10 kg in 1991 (21). Much of the decrease has been the result of a decline in arsenal demand (smokeless gun powder). List prices for ether have been steadily increasing, and reached 1.12/kg by 1989, refined, tanks (fob). 

The use of mercury for extracting precious metals by amalgamation has a long history and was extensively used by Spain in the sixteenth century when her fleet carried mercury from Almaden to Mexico and returned with silver. However, environmental concerns have resulted in falling demand and excess production capacity. It is still used in the extraction of gold and in the Castner-Kellner process for manufacturing chlorine and NaOH (p. 72), and a further major use is in the manufacture of batteries. It is also used in street lamps and AC rectifiers, while its small-scale use in thermometers, barometers and gauges of different kinds, are familiar in many laboratories. 

Production planning includes considerations on production objectives over a certain time horizon given marketing forecasts for prices and product demands, equipment availability, and inventories. This is a macrolevel problem of the allocation of production capacity, time, product inventories, and labour and energy resources, so as to determine the production goals that maximize the total profit over an extended period of time into the future (e.g. a few months to a few years). 

New production capacity to meet growing sales demand, and the sale of established processes by contractors. Repetition of existing designs, with only minor design changes. 

When the specified production capacities are low, processes based on batch reactors will usually have lower capital investment requirements than processes calling for continuous operation, so batch reactors are often preferred for new and untried processes during the initial stages of development. As production requirements increase in response to market demands, it may become more economic to shift to continuous processing but, even in these cases, there are many industrial situations where batch operation is preferable. This is particularly true when the operating expenses associated with the reactor are a minor fraction of total product cost. At low production capacities, construction and instrumentation requirements for batch reactors are usually cheaper than for continuous process equipment. Moreover, it is generally easier to start up, shut down, and control a batch reactor than a comparable capacity continuous flow reactor. 

In 1994, the worldwide consumption of rubber was approximately 14.5 million tons a year, of which about 40% consisted of natural rubber. Natural rubber is produced as latex by tropical rubber trees (Hevea brasiliensis). It is processed locally and therefore the quality of natural rubber fluctuates remarkably [ 140]. Due to increasing demand for rubbers, combined with a decreasing production capacity in Asia and a vast increase in labor costs, the price of natural rubber is still rising sharply. In 1990-1994, the average price of natural rubber was about 0.38 /lb, while in 1996 it was already over 0.80 /lb. The remaining 60% of the articles were manufactured from synthetic petroleum-based rubbers such as isoprene rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, chloroprene rubber and polyurethanes. The quality of synthetic rubbers is constant, and their price varies between 2 and 5 US per kilogram [137-140]. 

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