China & India to lead global PTA demand growth – GBI

The latest report shows that the global demand for PTA is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 5.3% from 2011, reaching 66 million tons in 2020, with Asia-Pacific expected to account for around 82% of its demand. The market will also be driven by North America (6% demand) and Europe (5%), followed by Latin America (4%) and the Middle East and Africa (3%).

PTA is a chemical derived from crude oil that is mainly used to produce Polyester Fiber, which textile and home furnishing industries require to produce garments such as clothes, curtains and bed sheets.

“China has emerged as a global textile manufacturing hub because production in the country benefits from low-cost labor,” says Ganesh Dabholkar, senior analyst with GBI Research. “With more PTA plants planned for installation in the region, Asia-Pacific is expected to drive and dominate the PTA market for the foreseeable future.”

PTA is a precursor to Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), which is used in the bottling and packaging industry. Although PET accounts for a little less than 30% of the total PTA consumption in the world, GBI Research expects that the changing dynamics of the PET industry might have an impact on the total market for PTA.

“The increased use of recyclable PET, the growing popularity of family-pack bottles, and a shift towards light-weight bottles that use less PET are some of the trends that might harm the growth in demand for PET, which in turn will affect demand for PTA,” says Dabholkar.

“Moreover, the slowing consumption of soft drinks from increasingly health-conscious populations, coupled with a decline in demand for packaged drinking water, is expected to damage the PET market even further.”

However, industries related to the production of beer and other alcoholic beverage bottles as well as household product containers are still dominated by the usage of glass, which could be an untapped market for PET and PTA consumption.

GBI Research