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Styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN) resins are optically clear resins used in a variety of end uses including housewares/consumer goods, various compounded products, packaging, appliances (electrical/electronic), medical applications, industrial batteries, and certain automotive applications. In these markets, SAN is used because of its improved rigidity, clarity (although various compounded grades are translucent/opaque), excellent gloss, heat resistance, good processability, load-bearing strength and resistance to chemicals. Among the main materials with which SAN competes are acrylics, polystyrene, polycarbonate, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride and clear ABS.
In general, SAN supply and demand are difficult to track because more than 75% of the resins produced are believed to be used captively for acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) and in the production of acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate (ASA) and acrylonitrile-EPDM-styrene (AES) weatherable copolymers. Captive use of SAN for ABS and weatherable polymers is not covered in this report, nor is captive use of styrene and acrylonitrile for SAN-type polymeric polyols.
China had the largest capacity, production, imports and consumption of SAN resins in 2007, and this is forecast to hold true during 2007–2012. China continually relies heavily on SAN imports to satisfy its needs. World SAN consumption growth is severely affected by the current and future Chinese situation.
Asian countries other than Japan and China that are prominent in production and consumption of SAN include the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, India and Thailand.
The following pie chart shows world consumption of SAN resins:
During 2007–2012, SAN consumption is expected to grow slowly in the United States and Western Europe. Demand in Japan is expected to decline during this period because of competition from competing materials and decreasing demand in the domestic electrical/electronics and housewares industries (due to the shift of manufacturing facilities for electrical appliances and housewares from Japan to other Asian countries). All other Asia, excluding Japan and the Republic of Korea, are expected to observe increases in SAN consumption in the same time period.
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