A consultant from Platts said China soon will become the largest buyer of polyolefins and will have more say on resin pricing. Mr. Wen Longchuan told the audience at the recent International Synthetic Resin Conference 2008 in Yuyao, Zhejiang province, that China will consume 20 percent of world's polyolefins by 2012. Wen projected that China will import 3 million metric tons of polyethylene and 4.5 million metric tons of polypropylene in 2012.

Being the biggest resin buyer, China will have enough bargaining power to set the pricing for global markets. The Chinese currency Renminbi or yuan will also become an important denomination for resin prices.

A complete script of Wen's speech in Chinese is available here.