Global polyolefins demand has maintained two percent growth in 2020.  The resilience has been demonstrated by its use in consumer and medical packaging, as well as personal protective equipment (PPE) that are essential to the COVID-19 response. The pandemic crisis exacerbated the downturn in the automotive and construction sectors that however experienced some recovery in the second half of 2020.  Global operating rates were maintained in 2020, but are expected to decline over the next few years due to limited demand growth and new capacity coming onstream.   Plastics’ use in PPE slightly redeemed public perception through 2020, and anti-plastics sentiment occupied less public and media attention than at the beginning of 2020.  However, low oil prices made recycling economics more challenging, and COVID-19 contamination concerns and labour restrictions reduced collection and sorting capacity.

The COVID pandemic came at a bad time for the polyester industry, which was already on a steep downturn due to capacity addition in China.  Howver, demand showed remarkable resilience. Fibre mills re-opened quickly after shutdowns during the initial confinements.  Bottled drinks sales reconfigured around formats for home consumption rather than those normally consumed when working or travelling.  Low oil prices and surging upstream capacity dropped input costs and upstream margins, causing a sharp drop in PET resin and fibre prices, and thus aiding competitiveness against both recycle and alternative materials.  The outlook remains challenging, with a massive capacity build underway at all stages in the polyester chain in China.  While Chinese coal-based MEG suffers in the lower oil price environment, a new methanol-based process is being trialled at a world-scale plant in China, which could radically change the global MEG market if successful.

The process technologies and production economics for low density polyethylene (LDPE) and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) are presented. Processes from major technology developers are reviewed. Cost of production estimates have been developed for USGC, China, and Middle East locations for LDPE and EVA. Production economics for LDPE are compared with LLDPE. Demand by end-use, capacity, and supply/demand/trade data is provided on a global basis and for North America, Western Europe, and Asia Pacific.

2020 has seen a reversal in the fortunes of most players in the oxo alcohol industry. Containment measures implemented during the first half of the year caused disruption to supply and a sharp drop in demand during Q2 as construction and automotive output fell as well as consumer spending due to lockdown measures. Q3 has seen strong recovery in demand in many sectors of the industry but question marks over demand growth and oversupply remain for Q4 and as we look into 2021.