Asia to lead global phenol capacity additions by 2024

Global phenol capacity is poised to see considerable growth over the next five years, potentially increasing from 14.21Mtpa in 2019 to 16.64Mtpa in 2024, registering total growth of 17%.

GlobalData’s latest report, ‘Global Phenol Industry Outlook to 2024 – Capacity and Capital Expenditure Forecasts with Details of All Active and Planned Plants’ states that around 13 planned and announced plants are slated to come online, primarily in Asia and North America.

Within Asia, China has five planned and announced phenol plants, with a total capacity of about 0.82Mtpa by 2024. The country is expected to spend a capital expenditure (capex) of $310m. Major capacity additions will be from Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd and Jiangsu Ruisheng New Material Technology Co Ltd.

In North America, the US is the only country with one announced capacity addition, of about 0.31Mtpa by 2024. The country is expected to spend a total of $140m by 2024. Ineos Ltd is the company accounting for the entire capacity addition in the US.

Europe has one announced plant, with Spain adding one phenol plant and total capacity of 0.15Mtpa by 2024. The capex for the plant is $120m by 2024.

Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd, Jiangsu Ruisheng New Material Technology Co Ltd, and Ineos Ltd are the top three companies by planned capacity additions globally over the upcoming years.