In 2013, global annual production capacity of o-xylene is estimated at over 4.76 million tonnes. APAC captures almost 60% share of the entire o-xylene capacity worldwide. The three Asian countries – China, South Korea and Taiwan – together account for nearly 42% of the global installed o-xylene capacity.
Global o-xylene capacity broken down by region, 2013
SINOPEC, Formosa Chemicals and Fibre Corp, ExxonMobil Chemical, KP Chemical, SK Energy, Flint Hills Resources LP, CPC Corp, Polimeri Europa, Lyondell-Citgo Refining LP, Nouri Petrochemical Co and Braskem SA are amid the top players in the global o-xylene marketplace.
From 2004 to 2007, the worldwide o-xylene production grew by around 3% on a yearly basis. It declined by 0.5% and 1.5% in 2008 and 2009, respectively, due to the global economic crisis. In 2010, the performance of the industry improved, but the growth rates failed to the reach the pre-crisis level. In 2012, o-xylene production grew by 1.6% YoY and climbed to about 3.5 million tonnes. APAC and Europe are the leading regional o-xylene producers. China, Taiwan, the USA, South Korea and Germany are the top five countries in terms of o-xylene production, together contributing more than 55% of the global production volume.
Global o-xylene production broken down by country, 2012
APAC and Europe are the leading o-xylene consumers. More than 90% of all o-xylene produced annually goes for phthalic anhydride production.
In 2011, the foreign trade in o-xylene exceeded USD 1.6 billion. Europe and APAC are the dominant o-xylene exporters, while Asia is an unrivalled importer of the product.
The global o-xylene market is poised to experience sustainable growth in the years ahead, driven by new o-xylene capacity additions as well as the constantly increasing demand for the product worldwide. The world o-xulene supply is forecast to go beyond 3.66 million tonnes in 2015. Meanwhile, the prospectve o-xylene capacity additions are likely to total around 450,000 tonnes by 2015. Asia is predicted to maintain its leading position in the worldwide o-xylene marketplace in the upcoming years.
More information on the o-xylene market can be found in the report “O-xylene (OX) 2013 World Market Outlook and Forecast up to 2017”.