The world market for ethylene dichloride (EDC) has followed a rising trend since 2010. For example, the volume of the global EDC production grew by over 1.1 million tonnes per year from 2010 to 2013. In 2013, it registered YoY growth of almost 1 million tonnes and exceeded 34.5 million tonnes. At present, the market is witnessing stable growth rates.
North America ranks the dominant regional EDC producer in the world. Top five EDC producing countries include the USA, Germany, China, France and Belgium; their combined share of the global EDC production volume stood at 65.14% in 2013.
Ethylene Dichloride (EDC): structure of the global production by country, 2013
Meantime, the world EDC production capacity surpassed the 39.4 million tonnes mark in 2013. In the same year, North America accounted for almost 37.9% of the overall figure. It was followed by Europe and APAC with shares of 28.73% and 20.25%, respectively.
Ethylene Dichloride (EDC): structure of the global production capacities by region, 2013
The world EDC consumption grew by more than 3 million tonnes from 2010 and 2013. In 2013, it went beyond 34.5 million tonnes. In the same year, the North American region took lead in terms of EDC consumption volume, which stood at above 12.2 million tonnes. Today, the major part (98%) of the total EDC output is used at production units to manufacture vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), which is further used in the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) production.
The worldwide market for ethylene dichloride is predicted to witness sustained growth both in production and demand volumes in the years to come. The market growth will likely be spurred by the novel EDC capacity introductions, scheduled for the upcoming years. By 2018, the world EDC output is poised to touch the 39.5 million tonnes mark.
More information on the ethylene dichloride (EDC) market can be found in the in-demand research study “Ethylene Dichloride (EDC) 2014 World Market Outlook and Forecast up to 2018”.