Bisphenol A (BPA) is primarily used in synthesis of polycarbonates & epoxy resins which are further used in electrical & electronics, constructions and automotives. Thus, BPA market is driven by polycarbonate & epoxy resin market and economic condition of particular country. Asia Pacific region has accounted as a major consumer for BPA followed by North America and Western Europe. Demand for BPA-based epoxy resins in food & beverage industry has declined due to its toxic nature, adverse effect on health and government prohibitions in its applications. However, BPA finds new applications in rotor blade composites used in windmills, which has global attraction as an eco-friendly option for energy production.
Most important application of Phenol is to produce bisphenol-A (BPA) which is a precursor for making one the most widely used engineering plastic, polycarbonate. Almost half of the global phenol is consumed for the production of BPA and the market is impacted by the sentiments observed in the polycarboante industry from time to time. There is a global shift of phenol production since past decade where China has drastically increased its petrochemical production in order to minimize its dependency on other countries. BPA accounts for the biggest market for Phenol followed by phenolic resins. Other applications include nylons, alkylphenols, phenylene oxide and others. Globally, the phenol demand has improved owing to improvement in the general economic condition and increase in the construction and housing sector.
According to Prismane Consulting s phenol market model, most of the capacities are situated in North America, Western Europe and East Asia. Ineos is the largest producer of phenol with facilities in Europe, Asia and rest of the world. The regional demand for phenol consumption has shifted from being fairly balanced in 2005 among major region to being skewed towards Asia-Pacific in 2017. Similar trend has been observed in the import export scenario where Asia-Pacific largely on account of China is becoming a leader in trade. The small facilities and companies in China extract phenol from coal tar.
More than 75% of the total Phenol demand in Asia-Pacific is from BPA and Phenolic resins. This shift of balance in trade has forced North American phenol producers to rationalize the capacity in order to maintain a competitive price in the market and to avoid the losses.
Polycarbonates are polymers that have a carbonate group in the main chain. The chain can be constituted of aliphatic or aromatic group. Commercially, aromatic Polycarbonates find wider applications compared to their aliphatic counterparts. PC reins are amorphous in nature and have a transparent and clear appearance, giving them excellent light transmission properties similar to that of glass. Moreover, they have excellent impact strength, more durable and weigh considerably less than glass. Thus, PC resins have been replacing glass in many conventional glass applications like windows and bottles. This market study describes the global Polycarbonate market, with focus on major countries and their subsequent demand for different applications. Overall market for BPA will grow at modest rate, except China, which will grow at comparatively higher rate.
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