Rapid Growth Period - Demand Exceeded Supply

5 Rapid Growth Period - Demand Exceeded Supply 

It is not xmusual during the early stage of a product growth cycle for product demand to exceed product supply as new product applications are rapidly introduced. This was the case for the polyethylene industry. 

After the end of World War II, polyethylene production in the United States was limited to only Union Carbide Corporation and the DuPont Company which entered the business with the support of the United States government to provide an additional source of polyethylene in support of the war effort. In 1950, the annual production in the United States was 50 million poxmds and the product demand was growing extremely rapidly. During this time, polyethylene demand outpaced the supply. 

However, the situation changed rapidly in 1952 when an antitrust suit found that ICI must license their polyethylene process to additional companies that wanted to enter into the production of polyethylene. Consequently, within the next year after the court decision, Dow Chemical, Eastman Kodak and National Petrochemical became ICI licensees. Soon, BASF in West Germany became an additional licensor of a high-pressure polyethylene process, so that by 1955 three additional companies in the United States (Spencer Chemical, Monsanto and Koppers) licensed the BASF technology. United States annual production increased rapidly. 

Year United States Production (millions of pounds) 

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