Western European market

As mentioned earlier, unmodified polystyrene first found application where rigidity and low cost were important prerequisites. Other useful properties were the transparency and high refractive index, freedom from taste, odour and toxicity, good electrical insulation characteristics, low water absorption and comparatively easy processability. Carefully designed and well-made articles from polystyrene were often found to be perfectly suitable for the end-use intended. On the other hand the extensive use of the polymers in badly designed and badly made products which broke only too easily caused a reaction away from the homopolymer. This resulted, first of all, in the development of the high-impact polystyrene and today this is more important than the unmodified polymer (60% of Western European market). 

In the USA producers included Eastman Kodak (Tenite PTMT), General Electric Corporation of America (Valox), and American Celanese (Celanex). In Europe major producers by the end of the decade were AKZO (Amite PBTP), BASF (Ultradur), Bayer (Pocan) and Ciba-Geigy (Crastin). Other producers included ATO, Hills, Montedison and Dynamit Nobel. With the total Western European market at the end of the decade only about 7000 tonnes other companies at one time involved in the market such as ICI (Deroton) withdrew. 

By 1998, however, the Western European market had grown to over 90 000 t.p.a., that for the United States to about 140 000 t.p.a. and that for Japan to just over 60 000 t.p.a. There are also about a dozen USA and Western European manufacturers. Statistics on capacity are somewhat meaningless, as the polymer can be made using the same plant as employed for the manufacture of the much larger tonnage material PET. It is, however, quite clear that the market for injection moulded PBT is very much greater than that for injection moulded PET. 

Table 2.13 Western European market estimations of consumption and annual growth rates...

China accounts for thirteen percent of the world chemical market, with sales of EUR 141 billion. Consumption is expected to grow at between eight and nine percent per annum over the next ten years - already substantially lower than in the relatively recent past (Fig. 32.1). Consumption growth is driven mainly by textile and clothing end-user industries, followed by automotive, electronic goods, and industrial machinery. By 2015, the Chinese market will have a volume of more than EUR 370 billion and account for more than a fifth of the world s market share. In other words, it will be on a par with the US or Western European markets. 

Fuel grade petroleum coke will continue to experience incremental demand in Western European markets. As such, prices will closely follow steam coal sold in European markets. Petroleum coke will continue to be priced at a discount to coal. 

The global market is estimated to be growing at 3-4% with most growth in Asia (especially China) and some growth in North America. The Western European market is maturing, but Eastern Europe is developing. Much of the growth is due to profile for windows and this increased to over 20% by 2002. 

Krishnakumar and Gordon (1996) estimated that the Western European market for feed/food antioxidant in 1995/1996 was split into approximately 50% synthetic antioxidants and 50% natural antioxidants, including vitamin C types, vitamin E types, carotenoids and spice extracts. The current legal status of herb extracts and other plant extracts is that of ingredients, but it can be assumed that extracts used as antioxidants are likely to be legislated as additives in the future. 

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. 

Polymer Reaction Engineering, an Integrated Approach Tab. 1.1. Applications and 2002 Western European markets for the major thermoplastics [1]. ... 

Simultaneously with this move to fewer production sites is the tendency to centralise distribution. Many fast moving consumer goods manufacturers aim to serve the whole of the western European market through a few distribution centres, e.g. one in north-west Europe and one in the south. 

Figure 9.5 Western European market for coatings - paint saies 2000 5560 kt.

Tab. 4-1 The Western European market for emulsion polymers in the paper industry [2].

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