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No commercial process exists for the deliberate,
synthetic production of cyclopentadiene and dicyclopentadiene. CPD and DCPD
are derived primarily as by-products of the steam cracking of naphtha and gas
oil to produce ethylene and other olefins. They are also minor by-products
of the thermal cracking of natural gas liquids (e.g., ethane, propane) to produce
ethylene.
The United States, Western Europe and Japan are the largest producing and
consuming areas, producing 41%, 22% and 24% of the world’s supply in
2005, respectively. The following pie chart provides a breakdown of the consumption
of dicyclopentadiene in the United States, Western Europe and Japan:
Sales in the primary end-use markets for DCPD—unsaturated polyester
resins, EPDM elastomers and hydrocarbon resins—depend on the performance
of the general economy and DCPD consumption tends to swing with changes in
GDP. Overall growth in DCPD consumption will be greatest in Western Europe,
with average annual growth of 3.6% during 2005–2010. In the United States,
consumption will increase by an average annual rate of about 3%, and in Japan
at an average annual rate of almost 3% during this period.
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