Document yr5qRKRnG9gxp3j7nKGbzBLYV

>?/ What's ahead for PVC A ravlsw of ths history snd cartful study of ths prsssnt can hslp In prsdlctlng ths futurs of polyvinylchloride (PVC) in ths US. Themes C Pinrier, Petrochemical Editor ; Polyvinylchloride (PVC) ranks second after LD- * Polyethylene and accounted for 16% of the 1976 U.S. plastics industry consumption. Today, general purpose resin --homo and copolymer by aqueous suspension polymeriza tion and homopolymer by bulk or mass polymerization-- accounts for almost 90% of the PVC market. About 14% of the general purpose resin is by bulk polymerization. From 9-10% of the PVC market is for dispersion or plastiscl resins. Solution and latex PVC is less than 1% of the total market. The mewewer. Vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) has only a few minor markets other than PVC. Current nameplate VCM capacity Is about 3084 M metric tons. Using a 90% operating capacity and subtracting a small export market, about 2494 M metric tom are available for conversion into PVC. In the 14 VCM plants operated by 10 domestic pro ducers, approximately 40% of the monomer produced is used captively by PVC producers and the remaining 60% sold on the merchant market. B. F. Goodrich leads the captive producers with 434 M metric tons capacity while Dow with 633 M metric tons and Shell with 680 M metric tons are the major merchant producers. VCM is produced primarily by oxychlorination or direct chlorination using ethylene and chlorine--both highly energy intensive starting materials. Monomer sup ply is currently relatively balanced with the needs of polymer producers. The pefymer nwrket. Since general purpose PVC represents 90% of the product sold and usage patterns 1 i i i Hf. 1--4JA polyvinylchloride (PVC) structure* HYDRCKSAaSOK PxOCXMINO v5$$january 1976 yv "T 153 * AP00016947