North American Polycarbonates Market Insights: Regional Market Dynamics

The North American polycarbonates market was equal to 631 thousand tons in 2013. The largest country market within the region was the United States, which in 2013 accounted for a share of 73% of the total in volume terms. Until 2023, the North American market is forecast to reach around 730 thousand tons, thus growing at a CAGR of about 1.2% per annum in the period 2018-2023. This is a slight slowdown, compared to the growth at a CAGR of around 1.6% per year, registered in 2013-2017.

The North American production of polycarbonates is likely to stabilize at around 730 thousand tons in the medium term with no major changes. Flat dynamics of the overall installed production capacities in the region and their annual average utilization rates are also expected. In addition, the market is forecast to remain relatively balanced in terms of supply and demand, also showing moderately mixed dynamics in the medium term.

Polycarbonate is highly dependent on the development of end-use markets such as electrical and electronic sectors, glazing and sheet products, as well as the automotive industry. and others. In Asia, polycarbonate demand growth is driven by key applications that include automotive, construction, IT and consumer electronics. Producers have been expanding their capacities in China to tap into the growing market. Polycarbonate demand in the US has been steady to slightly higher, tied closely to GDP growth rates in the country. The main demand sector remains the US automotive industry, which experienced strong growth over the past few years. In Europe, demand has been generally quite good across most sectors and regions, especially evident in the automotive sector, with indications of continued growth for sales into that industry.

Merger and acquisition activity has been robust in the chemical industry during the past few years. Although, the consolidation trend has been stable even in uncertain times, the number of global chemical merger and acquisition deals is decreasing. Particularly on the polycarbonates market, there has been interest in corporate restructurings. One of the most recent deals is the acquisition of Next Polymers Ltd., an Indian engineering thermoplastics (ETP) compounder by Celanese Corp. in the beginning of 2019. The global specialty materials company is aiming to establish its position on the Indian market. Celanese will incorporate Next Polymer's products within its engineered materials business. This includes polyamide 6 and polyamide 66, polypropylene, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polycarbonates and polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). Another recent deal is the acquisition of Covestro’s polycarbonate sheet manufacturing business by the acrylic sheet producer - Plaskolite, LLC in 2018.

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This release was published on openPR.