Asia is set to drive the capacity growth in the global polyethylene industry from new-build and expansion projects between 2020 and 2024, contributing around 40% of the global growth by 2024, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

The company’s report, ‘Global Polyethylene Industry Outlook to 2024 – Capacity and Capital Expenditure Forecasts with Details of All Active and Planned Plants’, reveals that Asia is expected to have a new-build and expansion polyethylene capacity of 24.16 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) from 61 new-build and expansion projects. Out of these, 56 are new-build projects and the remaining are expansion projects.

Sowmya Sivaji, Oil and Gas Analyst at GlobalData, says: “In Asia, the capacity growth of polyethylene will be mainly from China and India, which together accounts for around 73 percent of the regions’ capacity additions. The new-build projects account for most of the capacity additions in both these countries.”

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GlobalData identified North America as the second highest region in terms of capacity additions in the global polyethylene industry. The region will add a new-build capacity of about 12 mtpa from 19 planned and announced projects. The major capacity additions will be from the US, which is expected to contribute about 10.55 mtpa by 2024.

The Middle East stands third, with new-build polyethylene capacity of 10.30 mtpa by 2024. The major capacity additions will be from Iran, which is expected to contribute about 6.82 mtpa by 2024.