Asia will become a major supplier of global aromatic hydrocarbons
John King, a well-known consulting company's vice president of chemistry, recently attended the second Aromatic and Derivatives Market Conference held in Shanghai and stated that in 2015 Asia will become the world's leading producer and supplier of aromatic hydrocarbons.
Demand for gasoline in Asia will continue to grow at a rate higher than 2%/year. To meet the growing demand for gasoline, Asia will build more catalytic reformers, which will also increase more reformate products. With the increase of new naphtha crackers in Asia, the production of pyrolysis gasoline will also continue to increase. At the same time, the supply of aromatics from North America and Western Europe will be further limited, and it is expected that US gasoline demand will increase at a low rate of 1% per year, as sustained high oil prices will prompt consumers to replace cars with low-power engines. In addition, the use of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) will indirectly enhance the effect of reformate. European gasoline demand is expected to continue its declining trend, with an average decline of 2%/year, as the market share of diesel engine autos continues to increase. In addition, due to the few planned new ethylene cracking projects in Western Europe and the United States in the future, aromatics products from pyrolysis gasoline will also be limited.
John King also pointed out that by 2015, there will be a large surplus of pure benzene in Asia, which will become the world's largest pure benzene export area, and will affect the global market price of pure benzene. The Middle East will still maintain the right amount of pure benzene exports, as the Middle East will continue to invest in the construction of new benzene derivatives, mainly styrene devices.
Demand for gasoline in Asia will continue to grow at a rate higher than 2%/year. To meet the growing demand for gasoline, Asia will build more catalytic reformers, which will also increase more reformate products. With the increase of new naphtha crackers in Asia, the production of pyrolysis gasoline will also continue to increase. At the same time, the supply of aromatics from North America and Western Europe will be further limited, and it is expected that US gasoline demand will increase at a low rate of 1% per year, as sustained high oil prices will prompt consumers to replace cars with low-power engines. In addition, the use of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) will indirectly enhance the effect of reformate. European gasoline demand is expected to continue its declining trend, with an average decline of 2%/year, as the market share of diesel engine autos continues to increase. In addition, due to the few planned new ethylene cracking projects in Western Europe and the United States in the future, aromatics products from pyrolysis gasoline will also be limited.
John King also pointed out that by 2015, there will be a large surplus of pure benzene in Asia, which will become the world's largest pure benzene export area, and will affect the global market price of pure benzene. The Middle East will still maintain the right amount of pure benzene exports, as the Middle East will continue to invest in the construction of new benzene derivatives, mainly styrene devices.