Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Resin pricing news
    • Videos
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • K Show Livestream
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics News Caps & Closures
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Plastics in Automotive
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Commodity TPs
    • High Temp TPs
    • ETPs
    • Thermosets
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
    • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
    • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Historic Thermosets
    • Historic Recycled Plastics
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
March 29, 2013 02:00 AM

International plastics markets try to find footing

Frank Esposito
Senior Staff Reporter
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    HOUSTON — Winds are blowing through international plastic markets in the Middle East, Europe and Latin America. Top officials with plastics and chemicals firms in those regions tried to tame those winds at the IHS World Petrochemical Conference, held March 20-21 in Houston.

    Growth in the Middle East now is higher than it is in mature economies such as those in Europe, said Moayyed Al-Qurtas, vice chairman of plastics and chemicals maker Tasnee of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The region has a feedstock fuel advantage through ample supplies of natural gas and has built some of the largest petrochemical plants in the world, he added.

    The Middle East also has access to financing and growing markets, according to Al-Qurtas. "Some are not looking to the potential of the region," he said. "We are within 1,500 miles of 28 percent of the world's population and 11 percent of the world [gross domestic product], not counting Europe. Our population is growing and our users are becoming more sophisticated."

    The Middle Eastern market has come a long way since the 1960s and 1970s, when producers were looking for ways to monetize natural gas that was being burned off in flares. This growth led to Tasnee opening in 2004. The firm now makes high density and low density polyethylene, as well as polypropylene, acrylic acid and related products and compounds.

    The next stage of the region's development will require producers moving into specialty chemicals and differentiated commodities, including engineering resins and performance polymers such as polyurethane, Al-Qurtas said.

    Greater challenges exist in Europe, where slowing demand and increased imports likely will lead to some plastics and chemicals production being rationalized in the next few years, said Total SA's Graeme Burnett. Burnett serves as vice president of refining and petrochemicals in the Americas for Total, the oil and gas giant based in Colombes, France.

    The need to rationalize likely will affect smaller, non-integrated plants, Burnett said. But closing plants in Europe is a lengthy process that can take several years because of labor agreements.

    Total has done its part to invest in larger plants by spending more than $5 billion on upgrades to its plants in Normandy, France, and Antwerp, Belgium. Europe remains home to 530 million people and 24 percent of global GDP, he added, and has more than 100 billion pounds of annual resin demand.

    Imports of plastics and chemicals into Europe are expected to increase by at least 2 billion pounds annually over the next few years — largely from cost-advantaged new production in North America and the Middle East. But Burnett said there are strategies European producers still can pursue.

    "We understand the needs of the European customer and can develop value-added products such as expanded polystyrene and metallocene polyethylene and polypropylene," he said.

    Latin America — with a population of almost 600 million that is growing faster than the U.S., Canada and Europe — is providing opportunities for the region's plastics and chemicals makers, according to Grupo Idesa SA de CV's José Luis Uriegas. Uriegas serves as CEO of the firm, a petrochemicals conglomerate based in Mexico City.

    Latin America, like the U.S., is benefiting from natural gas supplies that are providing low-cost feedstocks. The region is home to countries with three of the world's 10 largest natural gas reserves — Argentina (third), Mexico (fourth) and Brazil (10th).

    Natural gas-based ethane will account for 41 percent of Latin America's ethylene production by 2016, up from its 2012 total of 32 percent, Uriegas said. Mexico now bases all of its ethylene production on ethane. Venezuela has the region's highest petrochemical cost advantage, followed by Mexico.

    Foreign trade remains very important for Latin America as a region. Mexico relies on foreign trade for almost 60 percent of its GDP. Argentina, Venezuela and Colombia each have about one-third of their economies tied to foreign trade. Brazil, with a larger domestic economy gets only about 20 percent of its economic activity in that manner.

    Grupo Idesa is doing its part to capitalize on low-cost feedstocks by joining Braskem SA in the Ethylene XXI project. Ethylene XXI is a $4.6 billion petrochemicals project that's set to come on line by the end of 2014, producing high density and linear low density PE and ethylene feedstock.

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Graham Packaging updates ESG efforts
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    Biden sets US goal to replace 90% of plastics with biomaterials
    2
    Redline's ‘outrageous cultural behaviors' retain top employees
    3
    Industry sees Biden bioplastics goal as serious signal
    4
    Official says Norfolk Southern fire likely started in rail car containing resin
    5
    Commodity prices rise; engineering resins drop
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Resin pricing news
      • Videos
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • K Show Livestream
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics News Caps & Closures
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
        • Plastics in Automotive
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
      • Processor of the Year submissions
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Commodity TPs
        • Historic Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temp TPs
        • Historic High Temp Thermoplastics
      • ETPs
        • Historic Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Thermosets
        • Historic Thermosets
      • Recycled Plastics
        • Historic Recycled Plastics
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified