As the world’s largest HDPE consumer, China is driving global HDPE demand, a new study by market researcher GlobalData (London / UK; www.globaldata.com) has found. All in all, the People’s Republic accounted for 27% of global HDPE demand in 2011, driven by the country’s fast growing packaging, construction and automotive sectors. By comparison, North America stood for 22% of worldwide HDPE demand last year and Europe for 20%. The rest of Asia, excluding China, consumed some 21% of global HDPE output – which GlobalData pegs at 24.4m t/y.

In terms of production, the researcher notes that developments over the past decade have seen the Middle East emerge as the world’s third largest HDPE producing region thanks in large part to government incentives to diversify output to include higher-value plastics such as PE and PP. These efforts have seen regional HDPE capacity increase by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19% over the past 11 years. Illustrating this incredible development, GlobalData points out that while the Middle East accounted for just 2% of global HDPE production in 2000, that share rose to an impressive 16% last year. Middle Eastern producers also dominate Chinese PE imports – see Plasteurope.com of 17.01.2012. By comparison, North American HDPE production still accounted for 36% of the global total in 2000, a figure that has dropped to 23%.

Another trend GlobalData points to in its latest study, titled "Global HDPE Industry - Packaging Applications Continue to Drive the Demand", is the emergence of bimodal HDPE resin, which is increasingly finding use in applications requiring severe operating conditions. Compared to unimodal resins, the bimodal types allow for more flexibility thanks to a higher top-load strength as well as increased environmental stress crack resistance (ESCR), making them particularly useful for applications such as high pressure pipes and industrial chemicals packaging.

For more information, see "Global HDPE Industry - Packaging Applications Continue to Drive the Demand", GlobalData 2011, Contact: Sarah Evans, Tel. +44 (0)1204 543544 or e-mail sevans@globaldata.com