China's Demand for Butadiene to Grow 8% by 2015

By Xu Qingsheng, Beijing Petrochemical Engineering Co Ltd

In China, butadiene is used in making synthetic rubber, synthetic resins, thermoplastic elastomers, styrene-butadiene latex and organic chemical products. The largest growth in consumption recently has been for products like ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) resin, SBS (styrene-butadiene-styrene) thermoplastic elastomers and styrene-butadiene latex. The manufacture of SBR (styrene-butadiene rubber) and styrene-butadiene latex is China's main sector using butadiene, accounting for around 36% of the total. Makers of BR (polybutadiene rubber) and ABS come next, using 31% and 17%, respectively.
China's consumption of butadiene will increase rapidly. It is expected that the average annual growth will be 8.4% in 2012-2015, slowing to 4.6% during 2015-2020. And by 2015, China's total consumption of butadiene is forecast to be around 2.981 million tons annually.
Capacity in China will grow constantly in the next few years, likely reaching 3.22 million t/a by 2015. However, domestic demand will likely be lower, around 2.981 million tons, at that time. Moreover, imported products occupy a certain market share of the domestic market, so there will probably be a capacity surplus, and domestic competition will become fiercer. In addition to renovating existing butadiene units and reducing costs, producers should actively expand sales channels and promote the application of butadiene in diverse sectors to minimize market-cycle risks and improve financial performance.

Consumption of Butadiene in China by Sector

Consumption sector    Proportion in 2010 (%)    Proportion in 2015 (forecast) (%)
SBR and styrene-butadiene latex    36    36.4
Polybutadiene rubber    31    25.5
ABS resin    17    22.3
Others    16    15.8
Total    100    100
Source: CNCIC

China's butadiene capacity to climb to 3.22 million t/a by 2015

With the constant development of the ethylene industry globally, butadiene capacity will continue to increase. New construction and expansion is occurring mainly in Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Korea and Taiwan province during 2010-2015. Global capacity is likely to approach 14.7 million t/a by 2015.
Many producers in China are ready to construct or expand butadiene units in the next few years and most butadiene units are matched with ethylene units. China's newly added capacity for 2012-2015 is predicted to amount to around 759 000 t/a, and the total domestic capacity is likely to reach 3.22 million t/a.

China's Newly-constructed, Planned or Expanded Butadiene Capacity in the Next Few Years   

Producer    Capacity (thousand t/a)    Year Started Up
PetroChina Sichuan Petrochemical Co Ltd    150    2012
Sinopec Wuhan Petrochemical Co Ltd    120    2012
PetroChina Daqing Petrochemical Co Ltd    79    2012
Sinopec Guangzhou Petrochemical Co Ltd    120    2014
PetroChina Fushun Petrochemical Co Ltd    120    2012
BASF-YPC Co Ltd    130    2012
Bluestar Tianjin Petrochemical Company    40    2013
Total    759    
Source: CNCIC