A large number of styrene units will be put into operation in 2022, and the styrene industry will enter a period of overcapacity.

Styrene monomer is an important chemical raw material and the most commonly used derivative of benzene. It is mainly used in the production of synthetic rubber and plastics. Styrene monomer is currently mainly used in the production of EPS, PS, ABS, SBS, SBL and styrene-butadiene rubber, and is finally used in toys, home appliances, automobiles and other fields.

There are three main styrene production processes, namely ethylbenzene dehydrogenation process, SM/PO process and C8 extraction process. Among them, ethylbenzene dehydrogenation process is the most widely used process in the global styrene industry, currently accounting for about 80% of the world’s styrene production processes. of styrene production capacity uses this process, and 14% of styrene production capacity uses the SM/PO process.

According to the “Styrene Industry Market Status and Investment Prospects Forecast Report in 2022” released by the Industrial Research Center, the application scope of styrene is relatively large. With the development of the synthetic rubber industry, the demand for styrene applications has increased. In the past three years, global styrene market demand has continued to rise, growing from 30.3 million tons in 2019 to 31 million tons in 2021. As demand grows, global styrene production capacity and output continue to rise, with production capacity increasing from 34.4 million tons in 2019 to 39 million tons in 2021; output increasing from 30.4 million tons in 2019 to 30.98 million tons in 2021.

my country is the country with the fastest growing styrene consumption demand in the world. Driven by demand, my country’s styrene output has been rising steadily in the past five years, from 6.9 million tons in 2017 to 12.6 million tons in 2021. In terms of production capacity, domestic styrene production capacity has continued to rise in the past three years, reaching 14.8 million tons in 2021, and is expected to grow to 19.5 million tons by 2022.

In recent years, as domestic styrene production capacity has continued to expand, my country’s styrene production has been able to meet market demand. Therefore, my country’s styrene imports have decreased significantly in the past three years, from 3.3 million tons in 2019 to 1.7 million tons in 2021. Thousands of tons. As domestic styrene production continues to rise and production capacity continues to expand, my country’s styrene production capacity is overcapacity. Related companies are actively exploring overseas markets, and my country’s styrene exports are growing slowly.

In terms of demand, domestic demand for styrene will reach 14.2 million tons in 2021, which is much higher than production. This shows that there is still a gap between supply and demand of styrene in my country, and production capacity and output may continue to grow in the future. In terms of production, domestic styrene production companies mainly include Zhejiang Petrochemical, Satellite Chemical, Anqing Petrochemical, Maoming Petrochemical, etc., and there will still be more than 100 tons of production capacity put into production in 2022. By then, the styrene industry will face the problem of overcapacity.

Industry analysts said that styrene is mainly used in the production of synthetic rubber. Benefiting from the development of the synthetic rubber industry, styrene applications Demand continues to rise. Currently, domestic styrene production capacity continues to expand, but output is still unable to meet market demand, and there is a gap between supply and demand. However, as a large number of styrene units are put into operation in 2022, my country’s styrene industry will face the problem of overcapacity. In the long term, the downstream growth momentum of styrene is insufficient, but the growth rate of production capacity is relatively fast, resulting in overcapacity and small market development space.