China to lead demand consumption of naphtha

27 May '10

2 min read

After 25 years of sustained growth, Asian naphtha consumption in 2008 decreased by 1.4 percent compared to 2007, mainly due to the global financial crisis causing the petrochemical industry to sink into doldrums in the fourth quarter of 2008.

However, the downturn ended in a short duration, Asian petrochemical industry strongly rebounded in 2009. Naphtha crackers in South Korea and Taiwan regions started operating at full capacity in the second quarter of 2009.

Asian naphtha consumption increased by 112 percent from 1995 to 2008. South Korea overtook Japan as Asia's largest consumer of naphtha in 2008. Naphtha consumption in Japan, another major Asian naphtha consuming country is declining.

In contrast with Japan and South Korea, China will lead Asia's naphtha demand. China's naphtha demand in 2009 substantially increased 10 percent over the previous year. Naphtha demand in China is expected to grow 14 percent annually from 2010 to 2015 and is also expected to replace South Korea as Asia's largest consumer of naphtha by the end of 2011.

China's net naphtha imports will reach 240,000 barrels / day by the end of 2012, and further increase to 370,000 barrels / day by the end of 2015. In addition, naphtha demand of Taiwan fell 5 percent in 2009, and is expected to further decline by 8 percent in 2010, but its demand will grow 4 percent annually from 2011 to 2015.

Naphtha demand in India would decline at an average annual rate of 1.8 percent from 2008 to 2015, mainly due to naphtha being replaced as feedstock with natural gas in electricity and fertilizer production. During this period, India's naphtha exports will grow by 7.6 percent per year, and reach 314,000 barrels / day in 2015, while imports will decline to 45,000 barrels / day.

Fibre2fashion News Desk

More Textiles News - Asia...