Global Bisphenol A Market Prosperously Expands Production Capacity by 500,000 Tons in Asia

According to the latest research report of SRI Consulting, the global bisphenol A market demand will grow at an average annual rate of 6% to 7% in the next five years. New capacity is mainly concentrated in Asia (outside Japan), and a total of 500,000 tons of new bisphenol A new plant will be put into operation in Asia in the next years to meet the rapidly growing demand for polycarbonate resin.
SRI Consulting reported that the newly commissioned project this year was China's Taiwan Changchun Petrochemical's 135,000-ton/year facility in Kaohsiung. South Korea's LG Chemical also built Yeosu's 120,000-ton/year bisphenol A plant earlier this year. It is reported that Bayer is planning to build a 200,000-ton/year installation in Shanghai. Japan’s Mitsui Chemicals and Sinopec have reached an agreement to set up a 120,000-ton/year plant in Shanghai with a 50/50 joint venture and plans to start production next year.
In addition, Russia will also have a 70,000-ton/year bisphenol A plant completed in 2007. The Saudi Arabia Project Management and Development Company plans to put in a 240,000-ton/year bisphenol A plant at Jubail Chemical City in 2008.
Bisphenol A is mainly used in the production of polycarbonate and epoxy resin, of which 65% is used to produce polycarbonate, 30% is used to produce epoxy resin, and other applications include the production of flame retardants, unsaturated polyester resins and Polyacrylates, polyetherimides and polysulfone resins account for 5%. According to the survey report of SRI Consulting, as of 2005, the global production capacity of bisphenol A was 5.19 million tons/year.
It is predicted that Asian markets (excluding Japan) will lead the global bisphenol A market at an average annual growth rate of 10% to 11%; the US bisphenol A market is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 3.5% to 4%; Europe The market will grow at a faster rate and will reach an average of 6% to 7% annually.
Last year, due to strong demand for polycarbonate and epoxy resins, the United States drove the operating rate of bisphenol A devices to exceed 95%. However, due to a 5% drop in epoxy resin production during the first eight months of the United States this year, the demand for epoxy resin for bisphenol A consumption will decline, and demand for polycarbonate for bisphenol A will continue to grow strongly.