markets feature | South America
DisTribuTion of CoMpounD anD MasTerbaTCh proDuCers in souTh aMeriCa 2010 (136 siTes analyseD by aMi)
Compounding shares Colour compounds make up the largest sector of the South American thermoplastics compounds market, ac- counting for more than 25% of the total by volume. The colour compounds sector has grown relatively slowly as processors switch to masterbatch in place of fully compounded products. unfilled engineering polymers and polyethylene pipes are the key markets for colour compounds. Technical polyolefins, which have been filled or
reinforced with glass fibre or minerals or modified with additives such as flame retardants, are the second largest thermoplastic compounding sector in
source: aMi 2011 Brazil’s dynamic economy will boost demand for
polymers over the next five years. production is likely to be oriented towards domestic consumption as confi- dence is very high in Brazil. As a result, petrochemicals consuming industries are turning their attention from exports to focus on the local market. The country’s long-term commitments to infrastructure spending should benefit construction and the pVc sector in particular. Brazil’s automotive industry is also expected to grow rapidly over the next five years, largely thanks to domestic demand and overseas car makers investing in the country. Brazil’s chemicals and plastics sector has also been
strengthened following a major restructuring over the past few years which resulted in the creation of two large players: Braskem and Quattor. Braskem and Quattor are latin America’s two largest polyolefin producers. Braskem leads the sector, with approxi- mately 35% of latin America’s 5.3 million tonnes/year pE production capacity and 31% of the region’s 3.5 million tonnes/year pp capacity. Quattor, which is 40% owned by petrobras, is latin America’s second largest pp producer and third largest pE producer. Brazil is also becoming a major producer of
“green” chemicals thanks to its large-scale sugarcane and ethanol production. Braskem started up the world’s first industrial-scale ethanol-based ethylene plant for the production of green pE last year, and the company is also planning to produce “green” pp. in addition, the country is attracting foreign investment in sugarcane-based chemicals projects. dow chemical plans to build a sugarcane- to-pE complex in Brazil, while Solvay is studying the construction of an ethanol-based pVc facility in the country.
16 compounding world | december 2011
the region, accounting for more than 20% of the total volume. Automotive applications are the largest end-use
market for pp compounds, followed by consumer appliances and consumer electronics. in recent years, the market has been driven by increased consumption of pp compounds in automotive applications and large domestic appliances. Technical pE compounds are used in a wide range of
applications, of which cable is the most important. cable compounds include cross-linked pE, lSFoH (low smoke and fume, zero halogen), semi-conductive, cable jacketing, filling and insulation compounds. in cable applications, pE compounds continue to gain share from pVc. The other compound varieties that would be included in this sub-segment are flame retardant, conductive and other filled and reinforced materials. Masterbatch represented more than 240,000 tonnes
of regional thermoplastic compounding production in 2010. The masterbatch market has shown good growth during the past decade as processors have switched to using it for a variety of technical and economic factors. For most commodity polymers, masterbatch is replacing the use of colour compounds and a similar
proDuCTion of TherMoplasTiCs CoMpounDs in souTh aMeriCa 2010 (by voluMe)
source: aMi 2011
www.compoundingworld.com
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