Benzene Achieves Record Sales

Benzene, a colorless liquid, is the precursor for numerous chemical compounds. The global benzene market will see dynamic growth: According to the new report from the market research institute Ceresana Research, the global demand for benzene will rise to approximately 6 million tonnes by 2018. In addition, global revenues are anticipated to increase to US$52.6 billion by 2018. “Benzene revenues will substantially exceed the 2007 peak level as soon as in 2011,” expects Oliver Kutsch, CEO of Ceresana.

Production capacities of benzene and its downstream products will be expanded above all in the Middle East. Ceresana Research forecasts that the Middle East will see its share of worldwide production grow to 3.7 percent. Moreover, the demand for benzene is increasing significantly in countries such as Saudi Arabia or Kazakhstan. However, the global market is dominated by the Asia-Pacific region, which already accounts for almost half of the global demand for benzene. China is rising to become the world’s greatest benzene consumer and will most likely displace the U.S. to the second place in 2014. In contrast, benzene is increasingly replaced for environmental and health reasons in established industrial countries.

More than half of the global benzene production is used by ethylbenzene manufacturers. Ethylbenzene is primarily used to produce styrene. In turn, styrene is mainly processed into polystyrene plastics, such as EPS foams for insulating sheets and packaging. The second-largest benzene market is the production of cumene, which accounts for approximately 20 percent of all demand. Cumene is a precursor for bisphenol A, phenolic resins, and methyl methacrylate. Further applications of benzene are in cyclohexane, which is used to produce nylon fibers, and in nitrobenzene, used for producing aniline. In addition, benzene is used as an extracting agent, solvent, laboratory chemical, and additive in gasoline.

The practice-oriented study of Ceresana Research gives a concise overview of the benzene market development – worldwide and in the individual world regions. Demand, production, imports, exports, revenues, and prices are analyzed. 35 countries are studied in detail. Particular emphasis is placed on the main application areas of benzene: ethylbenzene, cumene, cyclohexane, alkylbenzene, and nitrobenzene. The useful list of manufacturers in Vol. II includes 143 profiles of the most important benzene producers. The study, available in English or German, forecasts market opportunities and risks up to 2018.