PETpla.net Insider 12 / 2013

MATERIAL / RECYCLING 16 PET planet insider Vol. 14 No. 12/13 www.petpla.net PET Day 2013 – Artimino (FI), Italy, October 2 - 3, 2013 PET seizes the day On October 2 - 3, the Artim- ino Villa in the heart of Tus- cany was once again the venue of 130 experts from the PET-based packaging and beverage industry, an international gathering from four continents and 21 coun- tries. They were invited by the GSI Global Service Inter- national. This year the PET Day coincided with the 20th anniversary of the establish- ment of GSI. The presentations dealt with the traditional topics of the Polyester raw materials global view, including an update on antidumping, and some specific matters of great interest for the PET Industry. The afternoon ses- sion of the first day focused on topics of specific interest for the beverage and packaging industries, and closed with a round table on the impact of shale oil and gas on the PET and Pet- rochemical Industry. We present the traditional topics of the main presentations. One further topic at the PET day which will not be specifically covered in this article was the impact of shale oil and gas on PET and Petrochemical Industry. The subject was subsequently incorpo- rated by means of a presentation and a round table discussion. Global polyester feedstock review Darrel Collier of US Tecnon Orbichem, Polyester Fibres explained that world growth projection continues to exceed global GDP, as polyester is gaining share from other fibres. Polyester filament is expected to grow faster than staple (7.0%/a in 2013-2016 against 4.1% for staple). Total polyester fibres production in 2013 will be nearly 44 Million t (51% of all fibres production). China pro- duces 78% of worldwide polyester filament and 68% of world polyester staple. Consumption of RPET in fibre production (13% of total) is growing faster than in PET packaging resins (6% of total). PET packaging resins: World growth projection is slowing to 1-2% above the global GDP (4.1% AAGR 2013 - 2016) due to global markets maturity and lightweighting. Planned capacity growth will nearly double consumption growth by 2016. Pro- ducers’ structural consolidation and rationalisation continues in the developed world and a similar trend is expected to emerge in China in the coming years. RPET and bio-feed- stocks will continue to grow but will compete with fibres application. PX: World capacity projections show an increase from 39 to 59 mil- lion t/a in 2016 (mainly in China, Rest of Asia, and Middle East). Looking at the new plants under construc- tion, 8 million t of new capacity are due on stream in 2015. This capa- city addition should be sufficient to match global polyester growth rates but does not match planned new PTA capacity growth. PX margins should remain strong in 2013 - 2014. China PX imports are likely to increase in volume terms due to the rapid expan- sion of PTA capacities in that country. PTA: World capacity projections show that PTA will reach about 95 mil- lion t/a by 2016 from about 38 million in 2006. China alone will grow to 49 million t in 2016. The new plants projected to go on stream in 2014 amount to a total capacity of more than 10 million t/a, of which about 6 million t in China. In 2012, 11.6 million t/a of new capacity (of which 10.7 in China) were started up. In 2013, 8 million t/a (of which 7 million in China) have started or are due to start production. This capac- ity expansion, faster than demand, is bringing about a fall of utilisation rates and the erosion of margins. Almost all new Chinese PTA capacities are or will be integrated with PET plants. So China’s need for imported PTA is shrinking. There are rumours of Asian PTA Industry rationalisation as there are no substitute countries that need the PTA volumes previously imported by China. The Chinese PTA futures continue to impact on spot prices cre- ating volatility in the market. MEG: World capacities projec- tion show that MEG will reach 32 million t/a in 2016. In 2013 – 2014 new capacities will be mainly built in China and India but the Middle East remains the key production region. There are at least 2.3million t/a of new US capacities likely to be brought on stream in 2015 – 2016 and 2017 (based on shale gas derived ethyl- ene) but they have not been included in the projection because no official announcement has so far been made. The presentations at the PET Day in Artimino Villa, Tuscany, Italy, dealt with the tra- dional topics and global trends of the polyester raw material.