Prices for bisphenol-A will face downward pressure in the first quarter of 2011 as about 475,000 mt/year of new production capacity will come online then, mostly in the Middle East.
BPA is a raw material used for making polycarbonate, a plastic found in household appliances, electronic goods, and automotive and aircraft components. BPA is derived from phenol and acetone.
Asia-based industry sources expect the BPA industry to be more competitive next year due to the new capacities.
About 57% of the new capacity will come from Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company's new phenolics complex at Jubail Industrial City, which has a 270,000 mt/year BPA plant.
Saudi Kayan, which is owned by Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (35%), Al Kayan Petrochemical Company (20%) and public investors (45%), is expected to begin operations in the final week of December.
Most of Saudi Kayan's BPA output will feed its 260,000 mt/year polycarbonate plant within the same complex.
Meanwhile, the remaining 43% of new BPA capacity will come from Asia.
Over the first quarter of 2011, Thailand's PTT Phenol expects to begin commercial operations at its new BPA plant at Map Ta Phut, Rayong province.
PTT Phenol's plant has a nameplate capacity of 150,000 mt/year of BPA. It began feeding phenol into the BPA plant around the end of November and acetone early December. Its plant accounts for about 32% of the new BPA production capacity.
The company plans to sell about half of its BPA production in Thailand initially and increase its domestic sales thereafter.
Also at Map Ta Phut, Bayer Thai is looking at increasing its production capacity of BPA by 24% and polycarbonate by 10% by the end of 2010.
The expansion will increase Bayer Thai's BPA production from 225,000 mt/year to 280,000 mt/year and polycarbonate from 250,000 mt/year to 275,000 mt/year.
Bayer Thai is a wholly owned unit of Germany-based Bayer Material Science, which also operates a 200,000 mt/year polycarbonate plant in Shanghai, China.
BPA is a raw material used for making polycarbonate, a plastic found in household appliances, electronic goods, and automotive and aircraft components. BPA is derived from phenol and acetone.
Asia-based industry sources expect the BPA industry to be more competitive next year due to the new capacities.
About 57% of the new capacity will come from Saudi Kayan Petrochemical Company's new phenolics complex at Jubail Industrial City, which has a 270,000 mt/year BPA plant.
Saudi Kayan, which is owned by Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (35%), Al Kayan Petrochemical Company (20%) and public investors (45%), is expected to begin operations in the final week of December.
Most of Saudi Kayan's BPA output will feed its 260,000 mt/year polycarbonate plant within the same complex.
Meanwhile, the remaining 43% of new BPA capacity will come from Asia.
Over the first quarter of 2011, Thailand's PTT Phenol expects to begin commercial operations at its new BPA plant at Map Ta Phut, Rayong province.
PTT Phenol's plant has a nameplate capacity of 150,000 mt/year of BPA. It began feeding phenol into the BPA plant around the end of November and acetone early December. Its plant accounts for about 32% of the new BPA production capacity.
The company plans to sell about half of its BPA production in Thailand initially and increase its domestic sales thereafter.
Also at Map Ta Phut, Bayer Thai is looking at increasing its production capacity of BPA by 24% and polycarbonate by 10% by the end of 2010.
The expansion will increase Bayer Thai's BPA production from 225,000 mt/year to 280,000 mt/year and polycarbonate from 250,000 mt/year to 275,000 mt/year.
Bayer Thai is a wholly owned unit of Germany-based Bayer Material Science, which also operates a 200,000 mt/year polycarbonate plant in Shanghai, China.
