PVC - World Markets and Prospects

20% of all the resin sold in the world today, 26 million tonnes, consists of PVC. It is the second most used plastics material in the world.

This report discusses PVC from a business perspective, looking at its supply and demand, price, markets and applications, environmental issues and the future prospects of the industry.

Professor Pritchard is an exceptional author. He has successfully covered the broad sweep of the PVC industry, describing raw materials and synthesis, additives and compounding, and processing. Current issues have been highlighted including new technology and market forces.

Applications are dealt with by sector with emphasis on the building and construction industry, the predominant user of PVC in applications such as window profiles. Other key application areas include medical, wire and cable and packaging. The trends in different global regions are addressed to indicate where markets are mature and where they are likely to expand.

There is also an extensive section describing individual global regions, including North America, Europe and China, and indicating areas of over-capacity and of growth. Population size, local legislation, free trade areas and degree of industrialization are all relevant factors here.

The individual companies in the PVC industry are diverse in their range of activities. Besides listings in appropriate sections of the book, there is a chapter giving individual company descriptions, citing useful information such as capacity and prospects.

There have been campaigns by environmentalists against the use of PVC. There are also concerns about the safety of some of the additives, which have been used in plastics to date, primarily heavy metal stabilisers and phthalate plasticisers. This report outlines these concerns, the effects on the industry and the efforts of PVC manufacturers to address these issues.

Recycling of plastics is a major issue for all resins, particularly those used in packaging and vehicles, which are increasingly being targeted by legislation. End-of-life PVC is discussed here.

This report is accessible to both technical and non-technical personnel with an interest in the PVC industry. It will provide an excellent overview for market researchers, and analysts, whilst providing key information on the marketplace and prospects to those in the industry.