Institutions predict that global propylene production capacity will increase by 30 million tons in the next 5 years

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This post was last edited by yinkuilin6868 on 2015-11-23 08:29. With the commissioning of new propylene production projects (PHD), the global supply of propylene is set to grow at a rate that significantly exceeds expected demand growth over the next 5 years. However, if there is a significant price difference between propylene and ethylene, it may accelerate the growth in demand for propylene. Chuck Carr, senior director of IHS Chemical’s global olefins business, said this is due to the competitiveness of polypropylene as a lower-cost plastic resin. According to IHS Chemicals data, the share of global propylene supply generated by projects dedicated to propylene production was only 3% in 2000, but rose to 14% by 2013; it is expected to surge to 29% by 2018. Of this, most of the newly added propylene production capacity comes from China. In the United States, the supply of propylene has decreased by nearly 40% over the past 6 years due to the shift toward lighter ethylene feedstocks. However, the abundant supply of propane, coupled with crude oil prices being relatively higher than those of natural gas, has made propane dehydrogenation units in the United States a key driver for future Propylene supply growth. It is predicted that global propylene production will increase by 30 million tons over the next 5 years, while demand is expected to rise by only 22 million tons, which will lead to lower propylene prices. Chuck Karr, Senior Director of IHS Chemical’s Global Olefins Business, said the increased propylene production will drive the construction of numerous projects for non-polypropylene derivatives. Previously, excessive investment in polypropylene and insufficient investment in non-polypropylene derivatives had led to strong profit margins for the latter. Now, a new wave of investment in non-propylene derivatives has emerged, with most of it being built alongside dedicated propylene production facilities in Asia. In North America, due to the need to boost octane levels through gasoline blending, coupled with a significant increase in isobutane supply resulting from shale development, many refineries are considering reintroducing high-octane components produced from refinery-grade propylene via alkylation processes into the gasoline market. This would represent a reversal of the trend over the past few decades, during which refinery propylene was shifted away from alkylation processes and into the chemicals market.