Xylene

Xylene Global Market Outlook

• The global market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6–7 percent during 2018–2025: The impetus for this growth comes from an increasing demand in Asia, due to increased FMCG demand

• Demand from the beverage industry: The growing demand for plastics across the globe is the key factor driving the market. The beverage industry is shifting towards PET bottling from the glass bottling industry

Global Capacity–Demand Analysis : Xylene

• Asia to drive the global market: The global PX market is currently well supplied, and the demand is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6–8 percent, primarily driven by food & beverage sector

• Capacity additions in Asia have been reported in the downstream PTA market until 2023. The demand is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 6–7 percent, primarily driven by textile industries

Market Outlook

• The US and the EU markets are expected to remain saturated with 2–3 percent and 3–4 percent, respectively. North America has the significant share in bio-based PX, followed by Europe and Asia

• The packaging segment is projected to grow with a CAGR of 8–9 percent in the Asian market. The textile industry is booming in Southeast Asian markets, with a CAGR of 4–5 percent, which is likely to drive the demand for PX. About 21.5 MMT of PX capacity expected to come online by 2023

• Asia is the largest consumption and supply area in the world, predominantly driven by China, and it is expected to remain the same during the forecast period

• Downstream PTA demand is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6–7 percent until 2023. The capacity growth of PTA will be mainly from China, which accounts for around 85 percent of the region's capacity

Engagement Outlook

• Two-year long contact with half-yearly price revision: In the US and Europe, players can engage with two year long contract with half –yearly price revision

Global Xylene Market: Drivers and Constraints

Major drivers are demand from downstream sector and upstream prices, while major constraints shift to lighter feedstock, due to shale gas revolution in the US.

Industry Drivers

• Feedstock: Feedstock is one of the major drivers for PX and PTA. PTA had a correlation of approx. 0.89–0.99 with PX. PX had a correlation of approx. 0.80–0.85 with Naphtha

• Downstream demand from PET: PET is most prominently used in fibers (fiber grade) and the bottling industry (bottle grade). In 2016–2017, the growth rates for fibres have witnessed lower rates of <2 percent CAGR as compared to the bottling demand, which witnessed a higher rate of 6–7 percent CAGR, however, bottling demand is not consistent throughout the year and the demand surges only in summer

• Crude and Naphtha prices: The price extremities of crude, over the years, have contributed profoundly to the overall pricing of the commodity. Naphtha prices are highly correlated with the prices of PX

Constraints

• Regulations: Increasing blending of ethanol in gasoline, which has a better octane rating than aromatics, has greatly reduced the use of aromatics component as octane boosters

• Shift to lighter feed slate: Due to the shale revolution in the US, many cracker units have switched to cheaper ethane as feedstock rather than conventional naphtha, which has reduced the production of aromatics

• IMO Regulation: The biggest change in the US might be the requirement for gasoline sulphur to be reduced to meet the Environmental protection agency’s (EPA’s) The change in gasoline sulphur requirement might lead to more octane being diverted into the gasoline blending pool, overall reducing aromatics production

• Uncertain Project Timelines: Several capacitates are coming online, uncertainty of these project, particularly in the US are creating glitches in regional supply forecasts that would require to meet demand levels in import dependent regions