BobPatel, chief executive of Lyondell Basel, has predicted that the global polyethylene market will remain tight this year and next.
Patel said in the company's second quarter earnings conference call: 'Last year, our global ethylene and polyethylene capacity utilization rate is close to full load. If we look at the supply and demand changes in 2017~2018, we will find that supply growth exceeds Demand growth is less than 1%. ' For high-density polyethylene (HDPE), demand growth in 2018 will exceed supply growth by about 1.5%. HDPE accounts for about 58% of PE production in Lyondell Basel 70%.
Pate expects global PE supply and demand growth to be close to equilibrium in 2019, while HDPE demand growth will once again exceed supply growth. 'If the capacity utilization rate drops by 1% by the end of the year, it seems to me that we are still A very tight market. There will not be too much capacity to put into production in the next few years,' he added.