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Commercial production of dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and terephthalic acid
(TPA) is based on para-xylene feedstock. DMT and TPA account for a large portion
of the para-xylene that is isolated for chemical use. The major use of DMT and
TPA is the manufacture of polyethylene terephthalate resins (PET) and fibers.
World DMT/TPA capacity was over 75 million metric tons as of January 1, 2004.
Much of the growth in capacity has been in East Asia as countries such as Taiwan,
the Republic of Korea and China have become internally sufficient in polyester
terephthalate fibers, films and solid-state resins.
Approximately 86% of world linear PET capacity in 2004 is TPA-based, up from
66% in 1994. The percentage is expected to remain the same, based on announced
capacity changes through 2008.
World DMT/TPA consumption was just over 60 million metric tons in 2003. Terephthalate
consumption is determined largely by PET production, which currently accounts
for roughly 96% of consumption, mainly in the United States, Western Europe
and Japan. Currently, China is the largest consuming country, accounting for
14% of global DMT/TPA demand in 2003. The United States accounted for 7% of
consumption in 2004. Taiwan and Western Europe accounted for 5% each.
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