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Asian PC Resources Trade Flow Status

SCI99

2020-04-03

Asian PC Resources Trade Flow Status

In 2019, the global PC capacity further increased, and the PC capacity was mainly concentrated in Asian regions. On the one hand, the number of China’s PC enterprises increased to 11, and the PC capacity layout was more scattered. The proportion of non-phosgene capacity saw sharp increases. On the other hand, LOTTE Chemical expanded the PC capacity in Q4 of 2019, so the proportion of South Korea’s PC capacity to the global PC capacity further went up.

By the end of 2019, there were about 38 PC units in the world, with a total capacity of around 6,400kt/a. In terms of regional distribution of PC capacity, China continued to rank first with a capacity of 1,660kt/a, accounting for 26% of global total PC capacity. In 2019, the newly added PC units included the 100kt/a unit at LUXI Chemical, the 100kt/a unit at Sichuan Zhonglan Guosu New Material Technology, the 70kt/a unit at Hubei Ganning New Material and the 130kt/a unit at Puyang Shengtong JuRMB New Material. The U.S. and South Korea ranked second and third, and their PC capacity accounted for 14% and 13% of global PC capacity respectively. In recent years, there was no newly added PC capacity in the U.S. The newly added PC capacity at LOTTE Chemical was released in 2019.

At present, global PC giants mainly include Covestro, SABIC Innovative Plastics (Saudi Arabia) and Sinopec Mitsubishi Chemical Polycarbonate (Beijing). The PC capacity at these three enterprises accounted for 56.3% of global total PC capacity. At present, among the world’s main PC enterprises, Covestro Polymers (China) plans to expand the PC capacity. A Tianjin-based PC factory invested by SABIC Innovative Plastics (Saudi Arabia) and Sinopec is under construction.

As seen from the import origin of PC in 2019, the import volume in Taiwan Province still ranked first, while that in South Korea and Thailand ranked second and third respectively. In 2019, the import volume of PC in Saudi Arabia increased notably and ranked fourth, due to the stable running status of its PC units. Despite Sino-U.S. trade friction, the proportion of import volume from the U.S. changed limitedly and hovered within 8%-9%.

South Korea accounted for 13% PC capacity of the total, and the PC capacity mainly distributed in YOSU, South Korea. The representative PC producers are Lotte Chemical, LG Chemical and Samyang. Its net export volume was around 500-560kt per year.

Japan accounted for 8% PC capacity of the total, which mainly concentrated in Shikoku, Tokyo and Honshu. The representative PC producers are Teijin, Mitsubishi, etc. Its net export volume was around 60-90kt per year.

Thailand accounted for 7% PC capacity of the total, which mainly concentrated in Rayong. The representative PC producers are Covestro, etc. Its net export volume was around 380-400kt per year.

Taiwan Province accounted for 5% PC capacity of the total, which mainly concentrated in Central Taiwan and Southwest Taiwan. The representative PC producers are FCFC and Chi Mei. Its net export volume was around 240-260kt per year.

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