If you want to continue to survive in the fast-changing global petrochemical market, the European olefins and derivatives industry must focus on increasing the added value of products and implementing differentiated strategies, otherwise it will face extinction. At the 46th European Petrochemical Association (EPCA) Annual Meeting IHS Chemical Market Symposium held in Budapest, Hungary from October 6th to 10th, Matthew Toere, head of olefins and derivatives business of IHS Chemical Europe, Middle East and Africa Ke expressed the above points.

Toelk stated that the European olefins industry is under unprecedented pressure due to the weak demand in the local market due to the debt crisis in the Eurozone and the increasing competition from low-cost producers in the Middle East. IHS Chemicals stated that in 2012~2017, European ethylene demand will stabilize at a level slightly lower than 20 million tons/year, while current European ethylene production capacity is about 24 million tons/year, so the European ethylene production capacity will be slightly smaller in the next five years. Cut to ensure that the operating rate of the device can be improved. Toelk said: “We cannot see a clear turnaround in the European ethylene market because there are too many uncertainties. Even if the European market grows, this growth will be largely occupied by imported products. ”

At the same time, since 2014, Europe will become a net importer of propylene and its derivatives. By 2017, the net supply of propylene in Europe will reach approximately 300,000 tons. At present, Europe is a net exporter of propylene and its derivatives, with a net export of about 800,000 tons per year.

Toelk pointed out that in the next few years, the demand of emerging markets in Asia will continue to be the growth engine of the global olefin industry. In recent decades, the olefins and derivatives industry in the Middle East has maintained a double-digit annual growth rate to meet the growth in Asian demand. In the future, the olefins industry in the Middle East will continue to grow. However, due to the limited supply of ethane raw materials, the growth rate will slow down. At the same time, from 2012 to 2017, China will add a large number of olefins and derivatives production capacity, including propylene production capacity based on alternative raw materials and technologies, so the self-sufficiency rate of China's olefins and derivatives will increase. IHS Chemical expects that in 2014 China will add more than 4 million tons of propylene production capacity, and in 2016 it will add more than 3.5 million tons of ethylene production capacity. Therefore, ethylene imports in Northeast Asia will slow down significantly from 2014 to 2016.

The large increase in China's olefin production capacity means that producers in the Middle East will be forced to shift their product targets to other markets such as the European market, which will exert greater and greater pressure on the European olefin industry. At the same time, the shale gas revolution in the United States provided a large amount of cheap ethane raw materials for the local market, which is triggering a new wave of olefin production capacity in the United States. More than 10 million tons/year of new olefin production capacity will be put into production from 2016 onwards. This will also bring new pressure on the European market.

Toelk stated that bulk petrochemical products in high-cost production areas such as Europe are vulnerable to competition in low-cost production regions such as the Middle East, but the impact on differentiated products is minimal. Therefore, current European olefin and derivative producers are seeking to develop differentiated products to increase the added value of their products. If European manufacturers do not implement differentiated product strategies, the pressure on them will increase. Product differentiation will become the key to the survival of European olefin and derivatives producers.

Bibcock Series

Brass Bibcock,Ball Bibcock,Water Bibcock

Pioneer Automation Instrument Co., Ltd. , http://www.lnvalves.com