EUROPEAN PLASTICS NEWS
Published: September 4, 2014 11:43 am ET
Updated: September 4, 2014 11:46 am ET
Global demand for PVC is set to increase by 3.2 percent a year until 2021, according to a new report.
Konstanz, Germany-based research group Ceresana has estimated that 49.3 million metric tons of PVC was consumed globally in 2013, with the Asia-Pacific region accounting for almost 56 percent.
The group said that North American and Western European PVC markets had begun to grow again after incurring significant losses in the past few years.
Both China and India were growing markets for PVC, Ceresana said, and despite the United States seeing low domestic demand in the past few years this market had now begun to pick up due to demand from the construction industry.
Western European countries such as Spain and Italy were still struggling, with Italy ceasing to produce PVC altogether.
Ceresana highlighted that whilst some large scale manufacturers have sold their PVC businesses — for example Arkema Group — others like Solvay SA and Ineos Group AG have merged their divisions.
Chinese producers mainly relied on coal-based vinyl chloride to produce PVC, while other countries including the United States used ethylene-based vinyl chloride. | 
