Ceresana LDPE Study Offers Global Details
- Published: November 06, 2014
KONSTANZ, GERMANY | Ceresana, an international market research and consultancy company, has published a new study on low-density polyethylene (LDPE). According to the study, LDPE worth almost US$33 billion was sold worldwide in 2013, and Ceresana expects global sales to rise by 1.5% p.a. until 2021.
Asia-Pacific alone processed about 7.1 million tonnes of LDPE in 2013. About 58% of this amount were consumed in China. Asian countries, China and India in particular, and the Middle East are expected to remain the largest growth markets for LDPE. Due to strong competition by other types of polyethylene, future growth rates for LDPE demand are likely to fall short of overall economic development. The LDPE markets in Western Europe and North America are largely saturated already and will grow only slightly, according to the study.
Several world regions are rapidly increasing their production capacities for LDPE. LDPE output in the Middle East is projected to rise at a high growth rate of 5.0%/yr. New large-scale petrochemical complexes will commence production in upcoming years. These are often joint ventures of large international companies and regional enterprises. Various larger productions sites are to be constructed in North America and Asia-Pacific as well. Western Europe, on the other hand, will see the closure of LDPE plants, the study says.
Approximately 63% of total LDPE demand stems from film production, especially packaging films as well as bags and sacks. Other important applications are rigid packaging and construction products, which can profit from new investments in infrastructure around the globe. In Asia, on the other hand, the report says it is mainly films, LDPE packaging films in particular, that offer the largest growth potential, since Asian countries are increasingly adapting to Western standards for packaged food.
In a global comparison, film extrusion is the most common technology for processing LDPE. Other technologies, namely extrusion coating, injection molding, and other processes like blow molding and rotomolding, account for a market share of only 37%. The various world regions show only minor differences in regard to processing technologies. For example, extrusion coating is disproportionally often used in North America, while Eastern European countries use large amounts of LDPE not only in film extrusion, but also injection molding.
