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With world styrene capacity increasing at an average annual rate of almost
4% during 2006–2011, the average operating rate for styrene could be
around 85% in 2011. This rate could drop if production in China and the Middle
East continues to grow. World styrene demand is projected to grow at an average
annual rate of almost 4% during 2006–2011. The fastest growth in demand
will be in China, the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, and Central
and South America. Based on current capacity expansion announcements, the United
States, Canada, Japan, Singapore and the Middle East will remain net exporters,
while other Asian countries, Central and Eastern Europe, and Western Europe
will continue to be net importers. By the end of 2008/beginning of 2009, an
oversupply of styrene monomer in the global market could be seen, which should
disappear by 2012. Growth in Asia, more specifically in China, which is still
in a developing mode, will be key for styrene.
The following pie chart shows world consumption of styrene:
The major markets for styrene are polystyrene, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene
(ABS)/styrene-acrylonitrile (SAN) resins, styrene-butadiene (S/B) copolymer
latexes, unsaturated polyester resins, and S/B elastomers (SBR) and SBR latexes.
In 2006, world styrene demand was still dominated by its main derivative—polystyrene
(63%)—which has reached maturity in most developed countries.
Styrene is a global nondifferentiated commodity product; hence, the styrene
market is very price-competitive. As styrene is produced from ethylbenzene,
U.S. ethylbenzene capacity is fairly equal to styrene precursor requirements
and there is no significant excess ethylbenzene capacity to satisfy the debottlenecking
of styrene units. During the next five years, major capacity additions for
styrene will occur mostly in Asia, the Middle East, and Central and South America.
Capacity will increase at an average annual rate of 24% in the Middle East,
4.6% in China, almost 7% in Central and South America, and almost 8% in Taiwan
during 2006–2011. Construction of a grassroots world-scale styrene plant
and its raw material ethylbenzene plants is capital-intensive, requiring on
the order of $200 million for a 500 thousand metric ton-per-year plant.
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