The benzene market is expected to grow at a CAGR of up to 5%. The global market size is expected to surpass $136 billion. Procurement intelligence experts, Beroe, project that by the year 2022, the global benzene market will be valued at $173 billion. Asia has the biggest supply market with a 50% share, while the EU has a supply market share of 18%. North America is close behind the EU since it has a 17% market share while the other regions in the world account for a 15% supply market share in the global benzene market. The top suppliers in the world are Chevron Corp., Exxon Mobil, Sinopec, Dow, and Shell.
There is plenty of benzene uses in industry. It can be used as an additive to gasoline, or it can be used as an industrial solvent. Xylene has applications in printing, rubber, and leather industries where it is used as a solvent. Toluene is useful in the petroleum industry, the coating industry, as a colorant, and in the petrochemical industry. While the demand in the past for xylene and benzene took a hit over a decade ago, the demand is becoming stable due to the increase in demand. Toluene’s demand did not suffer in the past decade, even when the other two were not doing well. Toluene has been growing steadily, and it continues to do so.
The benzene, xylene and toluene market is likely to surge because of an increase in demand from Asia and the Middle East. There is going to be an increase in demand of up to 7% from Asia, which will push the demand for BXT. This demand increase is because of the increase in construction and automobile activities. The construction industry is likely to see a growth of up to 6%, while the automobile industry is likely to see a growth of up to 5%. An increase in the cumene, derivatives, and styrene sectors will lead to the global benzene market to flourish in the future. Beroe expects the benzene market to grow by over 4.4% as a result of this.
Plans have been made for capacity additions in the Middle East and Asia by 2022 according to the market intelligence report by Beroe. The estimated capacity addition is 1.5 MMT for styrene in Asia at the moment. The capacity additions in Asia and the Middle East will result in meeting the demand for the US and the EU. The reason is that the US and the EU will have a lower benzene yield due to feedstock change. Hence, this will make the EU and the US depend on imports to meet their benzene demand. This is when the Middle East and Asia can step in and export to these regions to fulfill their demand.
The decrease in gasoline production in the US will impact the production of benzene. It will decrease the domestic supply of benzene. Beroe states that the conversion margins will determine the on-purpose benzene market. The margins between benzene and toluene will determine whether benzene will be produced using toluene or not according to the market intelligence report by Beroe. There is good news for the toluene manufacturers as there is likely to be a good growth of the toluene market. This is because of an increase in the demand for paints, pesticides, and pharmaceuticals. These will drive the demand for toluene.
The xylene market will have a growth in demand due to an increase in demand in China for polyester fibers. There is insufficient production of cotton fibers in China, which will further raise the demand for xylene. The global market of aromatics or benzene, xylene, and toluene is fragmented in nature. North America and the EU have high supplier power, while Asia has medium supplier power. When it comes to buyer power, Asia has medium power, while North America and the EU have low buyer power. China is a major market when it comes to benzene and this trend is likely to continue. This will drive the benzene market to grow.
Apart from China, India is another contributor to the benzene market demand. India is likely to see a high consumption rate in the future of benzene. Ethylbenzene, cyclohexane, and cumene are the three large end-use Benzene consumers. These will have a steady growth rate of 3% in the coming years. Other end-use Benzene consumers include Aniline and LAB. Western India has shown to have a high benzene consumption of nearly 50% when compared to the rest of India. This trend is likely to increase in the next few years.
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