Soaring Need for Household Products Driving Paraxylene Sales

With the burgeoning requirement for personalized apparel and domestic & household products, the demand for paraxylene is rising sharply. This is because paraxylene, which is a fragrant hydrocarbon, is used extensively as a raw material in the production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and dimethyl-terephthalate (DMT), which are required for producing polyethylene terephthalate (PET) saturated polyester polymers. These polyesters are then used for producing fibers and films. In addition, PET bottles are also heavily used in the packaging industry, due to their unbreakable characteristics. 

Furthermore, the surging demand for magnetic tapes, photographic and X-ray films, and carbonated and non-carbonated beverage containers is also predicted to push up the sales of paraxylene in the coming years. Besides these factors, the growing public consciousness toward the use of bio-based paraxylene in bio plastics PET bottles (Bio-PET) and various other bio plastics applications, such as catering utensils, is also expected to fuel the global paraxylene market at a CAGR of 12.8% between 2016 and 2022. According to the observations of the market research company, P&S Intelligence, the market generated a revenue of $34,745.7 million in 2015.

This is because paraxylene provides high shatter resistance and tensile strength in various PTA applications. Geographically, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region contributed the highest revenue to the paraxylene market in 2015. Moreover, the region witnessed the sales of 34,293 kilotons of paraxylene in the same year. This is credited to the soaring requirement for personal apparels in the region. In addition, the growing focus of the governments of several regional countries on recycling and adopting bio-based renewables is encouraging manufacturing organizations to developed eco-friendly products, thereby propelling the demand for paraxylene in the region.

Apart from the aforementioned factors, the expansion of the textiles industry, especially in the emerging economies such as China and India, on account of the rising urbanization rate and the mushrooming population, is also driving the sales of paraxylene in the region. In APAC, the demand for the hydrocarbon is predicted to be the highest in China in the forthcoming years. South Korea and India are also predicted to generate a huge requirement for the hydrocarbon in the coming years.

Therefore, it can be said without hesitation that the demand for paraxylene will surge sharply in the coming years, primarily because of the growing requirement for polyester fibers and household & domestic products and the expansion of the packaging industry across the world.