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Apparent consumption of hydrogen peroxide on a global basis is believed to have been almost 3 million metric tons in 2004. Consumption has increased substantially over the past few years, driven by global growth in the pulp and paper industry, in particular in China, Southeast Asia and South America. In South America, mining is a growing demand sector. In North America, consumption is projected to grow by about 1.8% and growth in Japan is forecast to be about 4.5%. Consumption will increase in Western Europe at an average annual rate of 4.8% over 2004–2009, with the largest part of the additional consumption accounted for by the production of propylene oxide using the HPPO process.
The following graph shows consumption of hydrogen peroxide by end use in North America, Western Europe and Japan:
The primary factor driving past and projected growth in hydrogen peroxide consumption is concern for the environment. Hydrogen peroxide, which decomposes into water and oxygen, is replacing oxidizing compounds such as chlorine in pulp bleaching and other applications. Hydrogen peroxide is also used as-is or in an activated form to treat inorganic and organic pollutants in industrial and municipal applications. While the hydrogen peroxide market has traditionally been diversified across a broad spectrum of uses, rapid growth in consumption in pulp bleaching has forced the business to be driven primarily by demand in this one application.
Over the 2004–2009 period, hydrogen peroxide consumption will continue to be driven by demand in pulp bleaching and the new application of propylene oxide production, which is scheduled to start in 2008 and will consume an estimated 150 thousand metric tons by 2009. Demand in China, South America, Eastern Europe and Other Asia is projected to grow faster than in the developed regions.
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