markets feature | Global polymer trends
Global polymer demand growth 1983-2018
Source: AMI Consulting, 2014
What the industry must hope is that the rational decisions which recognised plastics’ superior perfor- mance in relation to traditional materials will continue to be accepted. However, real issues such as food waste and energy conservation are impossible to solve without plastics materials. In a world where 1.3 billion tonnes of food are wasted every year and US$6.5 billion-worth of goods are damaged in transit because of insuffi cient protection, the contribution that plastics products can make to these challenges has never been clearer.
Global success story The polymer industry has been a story of success over the past 30 years. The period since 1983 has seen world demand grow from just over 45 million tonnes to an expected market demand of over 250 million tonnes for 2014. Today, a thriving plastics processing industry
exists in nearly every country in the world. The last 30 years have also seen a signifi cant change
in the structure and direction of the world industry. In 1983, approximately 74% of world demand occurred in the developed countries of North America, Western Europe and Japan. By 2013 their share of world demand had decreased to 32%. This is despite the fact that demand has continued to grow quite strongly in these countries over much of this time. However, slower growth for much of the 21st century, together with much faster growth in developing regions, particularly China and East Asia, means that China is now the largest market for polymers in the world with a share of 29%, compared with 6% in 1983. Indeed, it became the world’s largest market for polymers as far back as 2002. Because of its sheer size now, China will remain the
key market in terms of determining the overall growth of the global polymer industry going forward. Through careful management of its economy, the Chinese government is now steering business towards serving its local consumer markets rather than relying on being the workshop of the world, which has driven the development of plastics processing in the region for the past 30 years. Meanwhile, other parts of the world are expected to
accelerate going forward. Africa offers enormous potential thanks to its vast population, fast economic growth and considerable natural resources. In addition, the proximity of North Africa to the markets of Europe offers potential for off-shoring. The Middle East, despite its political turmoils, offers
Global polymer demand by region 2013 Source: AMI Consulting, 2014
60 INJECTION WORLD | November/December 2014
high growth potential thanks to its pivotal role in the global production and export of commodity polymers. The investment in large-scale petrochemical plants is expected to drive further investment in major, export- oriented plastics processing operations.
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