CEH Report
Table of Contents
Abstract
This report covers the following styrenic copolymer:
- Styrenic block copolymers (SBC) including styrenic block copolymer (SBC, TPE-S) elastomers and rigid, high-styrene-content styrene-butadiene copolymer (HS-SBC) resins
- Styrene-acrylic ester copolymers
- Ion exchange resins (IER, styrene-divinylbenzene copolymers)
- Weatherable styrenic copolymers (acrylonitrile-styrene-acrylate [ASA] and acrylonitrile-EPDM-styrene [AES])
- Methacrylate-butadiene-styrene (MBS)
- Styrene–maleic anhydride (SMA)
- Acrylonitrile–chlorinated polyethylene–styrene (ACS)
Like the entire chemical industry, the market for styrenic copolymers was impacted by the global economic crisis during 2008–2009. As a consequence, demand for essentially all styrenic copolymers declined during this period. Currently, the recovery from the crisis has been fastest in China and some other Asian countries.
The United States continues to be the most important market in the Americas. SBC elastomers and styrene-acrylic copolymers account for the majority of consumption.
The majority of European styrenic copolymers demand is concentrated predominantly in the large economies of Western Europe, like Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Spain and the Benelux countries. However, growth in demand is often driven by the Central and Eastern European countries and especially the larger markets of Russia/CIS and Poland.
The most important economies in Asia are Japan and China. They are also the largest markets for styrenic copolymers. In Asia, the Japanese export-oriented industry was hit most severely by the impact of the economic crisis and suffered the largest decline in demand for styrenic copolymers in Asia.
China, on the other hand, did not experience a major decline and GDP growth rates were positive during 2008–2009. There was some slowdown in demand for petrochemicals and styrenic copolymers, especially in 2008, but the stimulus package of the Chinese government seemed to substitute some of the lost demand from exports with domestic consumption in 2009. The situations in the other major Asian economies with significant markets for styrenic copolymers, like India, Taiwan and the Republic of Korea, were somewhere between those of Japan and China.