Distribution of global polyester bottle chip production capacity

Thread Content

Although the main production sites for polyester bottle chips in the world are in North America, the major consumer markets are in Asia. Taiwan has seen gradual advancement in the technology for producing polyester bottle chips, and these newly developed chips can now replace traditional glass bottles as packaging for foods such as jam and milk powder； Moreover, used polyester bottles can be recycled and processed into fabrics such as denim for clothing, which is highly in line with environmental protection requirements. The growth rate of polyester bottle chips in Europe and Asia will exceed that in the Americas. It is predicted that global annual demand for polyester bottle chips will increase at an average rate of 10% per year over the next five years. Overall, there is a continuous rise in global production capacity, output, and market demand for polyester bottle chips. Many manufacturers are very optimistic about the future prospects of this industry; driven by economic interests, they are expanding their production scales or entering the polyester bottle chip manufacturing sector. Moreover, efforts to explore new application areas are also moving toward greater diversification. According to market surveys, there is still significant potential for the growth of polyester applications by 2010; in terms of annual average growth rates, the use in textile fibers will remain at 10%, while in the case of polyester bottles, it could reach as high as 19%. From the perspective of the consumption distribution structure, in 2000, fibers accounted for 66% of the total polyester polymer consumption, polyester bottles for 25%, films for 5%, and others for 4% ； In 2005, they were 65%, 25%, 4%, and 5% respectively ； In 2010, they changed to 60%, 34%, 3%, and 4% respectively. This shows the trends of growth and decline of different application fields in polyester products. Over the past 10 years, the average annual growth rate of global polyester bottle chip production and consumption has exceeded 20%. In 2005, the global production capacity for polyester bottle chips was 15.24 million tons per year; it is estimated that this figure will rise to 16.20 million tons per year by 2008. Polyester bottle chips used for food and beverage packaging account for the largest share of consumption, accounting for about 80% of total polyester bottle chip usage, while the remaining 20% is used for non-food packaging applications such as those in the pharmaceutical and personal care industries. Among polyester sheets used for food and beverage packaging, those used for soft drinks account for the largest consumption, accounting for about 60% of the total consumption. In recent years, with the development of the social economy and the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, polyester bottles have gradually become the preferred packaging material, finding increasingly widespread use in fields such as food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, and daily cosmetics. This not only brings significant business opportunities to manufacturers in the upstream sector that produce polyester preforms, but it also further promotes the steady development of the global polyester industry. Table 1 below shows the production capacities of the major global bottle-grade polyester companies! Production capacities of major global polyester manufacturers for bottle-grade material, in 10,000 tons per year. Company name, Headquarters location: 2005, 2006, 2007. World total production capacity: 1202.7, 1319.8, 1523.9. 1. Wilmar, United States: 219.2, 219.7, 219.7. 2. Voridian, United States: 152.2, 152.7, 152.7. 3. Far Eastern Textiles, Taiwan: 43.5, 63.5, 127.5. 4. Equipolymers, Germany: 39.0, 59.0, 123.0. 5. Elana, Poland: 31.3, 51.3, 115.3. 6. Invista, United States: 41.7, 54.3, 70.1. 7. Unichema, Japan: 59.0, 59.0, 59.0. 8. Nanya, Taiwan: 52.9, 56.0, 56.0. 9. Nippon, Japan: 52.9, 56.0, 56.0. 10. Mitsui, Japan: 40.5, 40.5, 40.5. 11. Eastman, United States: 16.2, 26.2, 58.2. 12. DuPont Sorona, United Kingdom: 15.1, 25.1, 57.1. Subtotal: 763.5, 863.3, 1135.1. Percentage: 63.48, 65.41, 74.49