In a report on the polystyrene market, German firm Ceresana Research said it expects global revenues to rise to approximately $26 billion in 2020.
Capacity utilization of polystyrene plants has averaged only about 75 percent in the past. This led producers to reduce production and capacities in Western Europe and North America and refocus on growth markets. They also refocused on quality products, said Ceresana.
“In order to satisfy the rising global demand, however, production capacity has to increase again. Hence, the global production capacity will be expanded by about 700,000 tonnes until 2020”, said Oliver Kutsch, CEO of Konstanz, Germany-based Ceresana.
The group expects more than 90 percent of these new capacities will be created in Asia-Pacific.