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    Home > Coatings News > Paints and Coatings Market > European polyurethane market enters cold winter

    European polyurethane market enters cold winter

    • Last Update: 2020-02-12
    • Source: Internet
    • Author: User
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    According to the latest news of anxins, it is expected that in the first few months of 2020, the European polyurethane market will face the dilemma of supply saturation and demand slowdown Only a weak signal indicates that the market will get rid of the external pressure of the petrochemical industry in 2019 Like other petrochemical products, the prices of isocyanates and polyols have nearly collapsed under the influence of macroeconomic factors and the continuous trade tensions between China and the United States All of these cast a shadow over the global market in 2019 Prices fell sharply At the end of 2019, the price of crude two phenyl methylene diisocyanate (MDI) used for building and insulation rigid polyurethane foam was only one percentage point higher than the lowest price recorded since 2002 Pure MDI (shoe polyurethane foam) has performed slightly better, but the price has been declining since October 2018 and is at a low level for two and a half years Similarly, the price of toluene diisocyanate (TDI, a flexible foam used for bedding and furniture) fell to half of May 2018, the lowest point in the past 14 years At the same time, the price of Polyols (compounds that react with isocyanates to form and determine the properties of polyurethane polymers) is at its lowest point in more than three years "I've never seen such a big monthly price cut," one dealer said of the crude MDI price discount last November Continued weak demand at the moment, low isocyanate and polyol prices may stimulate buying interest, but several market participants said they did not expect demand to improve in the near future "People are refusing to buy consumer goods at a time of global economic and trade uncertainty," said one European dealer Another producer added that buyers were waiting for further discounts on raw materials and delayed new year's orders, which usually began in the fourth quarter of last year The price of MDI used for rigid foam and CASE (coating polyurethane, adhesives, sealants and packaging agents) has fallen sharply due to the dual impact of increased competition and slowing demand in the automotive industry "The case industry is oversupplied and major suppliers are disrupting the market and offering cheaper products," said a European based distributor In addition, people are spending less on all aspects, including cars and consumer goods, and this trend will continue " The global demand for mattresses has weakened with the downturn in the macroeconomic situation The flexible foam used in mattresses is the main TDI terminal market Earlier, the European Commission cut its 2020 GDP growth forecast to 1.1% The overall demand for TDI is stable, but demand is not expected to improve in early 2020, because many bubble producers have reduced the purchase of raw materials At the beginning of last year, there were some supporting factors in the TDI market, mainly the shutdown of TDI plant in BASF Ludwig port, but this unplanned shutdown did not seem to lead to a decrease in supply It is reported that imported materials are used to supplement the reduction in the output of the device Global oversupply, however, is not limited to Europe Rob peacock, business consultant of acens aromatics, said that due to investment in new facilities in the past few years and weak demand for isocyanates in 2019, the isocyanate industry is in some structural oversupply, especially TDI "Although there is no further significant capacity expansion plan for TDI after 2020, the market is expected to remain structurally oversupplied in the next few years," peacock said Peacock said that at present, the global TDI capacity is nearly 3.4 million tons / year, exceeding the demand by nearly 1 million tons / year In recent years, the demand growth rate of MDI market is higher than that of TDI market, but the weak demand at the end of 2018 and 2019 has resulted in the oversupply after the recent expansion "If weak demand continues further into 2020, we expect some previously announced plans for MDI expansion to be delayed," peacock said It is predicted that the utilization rate of MDI capacity will be higher than TDI in the next few years, and the global MDI capacity will reach 9 million tons / year in 2020, exceeding the demand by about 2 million tons / year  
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