More chlorine, less crude oil: large quantities of by-products from the chemical industry are used to manufacture polyvinyl chloride (PVC). PVC is therefore one of the most cost-effective plastics - and, along with polypropylene and polyethylene, also the most widely used. Ceresana has analyzed the growing market for PVC for the sixth time: The analysts expect the demand for this both robust and versatile material to increase to around 57 million tonnes worldwide by 2030.
Main applications are building products and packaging
The construction industry is expected to remain the most important market for PVC in the future, accounting for around two-thirds of the global demand. Examples of PVC applications in the construction industry include pipes, window frames, doors and covers, panels, cables and cable sheathing, dowels, screws, fasteners and coatings. Flooring also accounts for a significant share of global PVC demand. The second largest market is the packaging industry, which uses PVC for flexible and rigid packaging, with a share of nearly 16.5%. The most important applications include packaging films, bags and sacks, and shrink and stretch films. Rigid packaging includes containers such as butter or yogurt pots, bottles, boxes as well as lids. Other industrial uses of PVC include shoe soles, coatings and medical products such as infusion bags.
Pipes for waste water, potable water and industry
In 2020, pipes and pipelines were the most important PVC products with a share of over 37%. They were followed by profiles (20.3%) and films and sheets (17.3%). PVC offers significant advantages for the production of sewage pipes: The weight drops dramatically compared to pipes made of concrete or metal. PVC is also resistant to many chemicals and corrosion. Worldwide, more than 7.1 million tonnes of PVC were processed into sewage pipes last year. The market for PVC potable water pipes is somewhat smaller. The requirements for this market are different from those for sewage water, and the legal requirements for drinking water pipes are often very high, especially in highly developed industrialized countries. PVC pipes are at an advantage here with their insensitivity to UV radiation, chlorine and ozone.
Rigid PVC and flexible PVC in one study
Chapter 1 provides a presentation and analysis of the global market for PVC - including forecasts up to 2030: demand in tonnes and revenues in USD and EUR are detailed for each region of the world. In addition, the global and regional PVC demand per product and per application area is analyzed.
The following PVC products are considered in detail:
- Sewage – Pipes
- Potable Water – Pipes
- Others – Pipes
- Profiles
- Films & Sheets
- Cable & Cable Sheathing
- Flooring
- Containers
- Others
Application areas examined in this study are:
- Flexible Packaging
- Rigid Packaging
- Construction Industry
- Transportation
- E&E
- Industry
- Other Applications
In Chapter 2, 46 countries are considered individually. The following is depicted:
- the country-specific demand, revenue, production, capacities and trading
- the demand for each PVC product
- the demand for each application
- the demand per PVC type (rigid & flexible)
Chapter 3 provides useful company profiles of the most significant manufacturers of PVC, clearly arranged by contact details, revenue, profit, product range, production facilities, capacities and brief profile. Detailed profiles are provided by 81 manufacturers, e.g. ChemChina, Formosa Plastics, Ineos, Occidental Petroleum, Orbia Advance, Shin-Etsu, Westlake, and Xinjiang.