In 2009, the stable growth in the world propylene oxide (PO) market was interrupted by a remarkable fall provoked by the unfavourable economic conditions worldwide. However, in 2010 the world PO market returned on the growth track and continued to follow the upward trend during 2010-2013.
In 2013, the global PO production grew by around 300,000 tonnes and reached the 8.06 million tonnes mark. In the same year, Asia called for the largest share of the world’s total PO production volume. It was followed by Europe and North America, accounting for almost equal shares.
The USA, China, the Netherlands, Germany and Japan were the top five countries in terms of PO production in 2013.
Propylene Oxide (PO): structure of the global production by country, 2013
Dow Chemical, LyondellBasell Chemical, Ellba, Shell, SCG-Dow Group, CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals, Lyondell Bayer Manufacturing Maasvlakte, Wudi Xinyue Chemical and Ningbo Zhenhai Lyondell Chemical are amid the top companies active in the worldwide PO market.
As for the world PO production capacity, it surpassed the 9.94 million tonnes in 2013. In the same year, the largest chunk of the world PO capacities (just over 41%) was held by the APAC region. Europe and North America also held impressive shares of 27.81% and 24.58%, respectively.
Propylene Oxide (PO): structure of the global capacity by region, 2013
Furthermore, the world PO market is poised to witness stable growth in the upcoming years, driven primarily by the rising demand and new capacity introductions. The global PO production is anticipated to post positive growth in the years ahead. in 2018, the global PO production volume will likely go beyond 9.56 million tonnes.
More information on the propylene oxide market can be found in the in-demand research study “Propylene Oxide (PO) 2014 World Market Outlook and Forecast up to 2018”.