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China, Japan and the United States continue to be the largest producing and
consuming countries of polyvinyl alcohol worldwide. The high production level
in Japan is supported by large exports to the Republic of Korea, Southeast
Asia and the United States. World consumption of polyvinyl alcohol was over
one million metric tons in 2006. The following pie chart shows world consumption
of polyvinyl alcohol:
About 76% of polyvinyl alcohol capacity is located in Asian countries. The
top five producers accounted for nearly 42% of world capacity and the next
four producers accounted for an additional 11%. China alone accounted for 45%
of world capacity, up from 34% in 2002. Kuraray, the leading producer, has
nearly 16% of world capacity.
Polyvinyl butyral (PVB) is the largest consumer of polyvinyl alcohol in the
United States and Western Europe; polyvinyl alcohol use as a polymerization
aid is the largest market in China; and vinylon fiber production dominates
demand in Japan. Global polyvinyl alcohol consumption is expected to increase
at an overall rate of about 2.5% annually between 2006 and 2011.
Besides use as a polymerization aid, the major markets for polyvinyl alcohol
in China are textile sizing agents, architectural and paper coatings, fibers
and adhesives. PVB resin and film are supplied primarily by imports. Demand
is forecast to grow at an average annual rate of 3% from 2006 to 2011.
Most of the applications for polyvinyl alcohol are mature. The fastest-growing
market for polyvinyl alcohol in the United States is for use in the manufacture
of polyvinyl butyral; growth for this application is forecast at 4% annually
during the 2006–2011 period. Overall consumption of polyvinyl alcohol–based
textile sizing agents in the United States will decline slightly. U.S. demand
for polyvinyl alcohol in paper coatings will grow as the paper industry increasingly
demands better properties from pulps containing lower-quality fibers. Growth
in the adhesives market is expected to average 2.6% annually. Growth in Western
European demand for polyvinyl alcohol will depend primarily on demand for PVB
resin, which is one of the largest and fastest-growing markets for polyvinyl
alcohol in the region. Total Japanese consumption of polyvinyl alcohol is expected
to increase at about 1.7% annually through 2011; polyvinyl alcohol use in fibers,
adhesives, paper processing, and polyvinyl alcohol films will increase while
textile processing uses will decline.
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