ABSTRACT
Polypropylene (PP) underwent phenomenal growth in production and use throughout the world during the latter half of the 20th century. From the early 1960s until the oil crisis of the early 1970s, the growth rate was nearly 25% annually. During the period from about 1974 through 1999, the rate of consumption increased between 7% and 12% annually. This high growth rate of PP consumption has required that production capacity keep up with the growing demand. Though installed-capacity utilization has typically ranged from approximately 85% to nearly 98% during peak demand periods, for the most part, supply and demand have remained in balance. However during the latter half of the 1990s, gross national product (GNP) was increasing at a record pace and many companies invested in new polyolefin capacity. With the average annual growth rate (AAGR) approaching 12% in 1999, there was continued expectation of high demand. However, a slowdown in the economy began during the latter half of 1999. This slowdown, coupled with a significant increase in new plants and debottlenecking of existing plants, created a very significant supply imbalance position.
