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THE GLOBAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRY A PRIMER 259

Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is the most common member of the poly-

ester family. It is used in bottle resin, film and fibers. Bottle resin accounts

for about one-quarter of all polyester melt demand globally, with fiber (sta-

ple fiber and filament) applications contributing the bulk of demand (see

Exhibit 294).

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Based on 2002 dema nd of 32.8 million tons.

Source: CMAI and Bernstein estimates.

Polyester bottle resin is one of the fastest growing plastics and is pre-

ferred over glass for its clarity, low cost, shapeability and ease in recycling.

Technology improvements now allow for polyester bottles to be used for

prod ucts that are pasteurized and requ ire hot fill capabilities. Plastic beer

bottles are one of the future potential uses. PET is also the most recycled

plastic and is familiar through its use in soft drink and water bottles. In

many developing areas, access to sanitary drinking water is limited, so

light-weight, easily transported, low-cost bottles for safe drinking water

add to personal mobility, public hygiene and a better living stand ard (see

Exhibit 295).

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260 THE GLOBAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRY A PRIMER

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Based on 2002 deman d of 8.5 million tons.

Source: CMAI and Bernstein estimates.

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Polyester bottle resin is easily transported as chips, while polyester fiber is

moved as ba les of fiber or on bobbins as a filament. Prod uction of polyester

resin tends to be located in areas of high consumer consumption such as

North America and Western Europ e, because transportation of a solid ma-

terial is costly. PET trad e flows ar e illustrated in Exhibit 296.

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Based o n 2002 trade flows.

1RWHV The size of the symbol indicates the volum e of net imp orts or exports.

The arrows provide an overview of the general trade flows.

Source: Bernstein analysis.

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THE GLOBAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRY A PRIMER 261

3URGXFWLRQ PET or polyethylene terephthalate first became of commercial importance

as a syn thetic fiber, essentially as a rep lacemen t for natu ral silk. It is a con-

densation polymer, produced from the reaction of ethylene glycol (MEG)

and either terephthalic acid (TPA) or its dimethyl ester, dimethyl tereph-

thalate (DMT). Although there are many different polyesters, it is polyeth-

ylene terephthalate that became known as fiber-grade polyester and was

subsequently used for p olyester film and more recently for the m anu facture

of polyester bottle resin.

The polycondensation synthesis of polyesters involves the reaction of

ethylene glycol with an organic diacid. The most common diacids utilized

are either dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) or terephthalic acid (TPA). These

two feedstocks (DMT and TPA) are generally produced via direct reaction

between oxygen and paraxylene. Polyester is produced when either DMT

or TPA is reacted with ethylene glycol to form melt polymer. The melt

polymer is a hot liquid, which can either be processed directly into polyes-

ter staple fiber or filament, or further processed through a solidifier. The

solidifier produces polyester chip, which is then processed into polyesterstaple fiber or polyester filament. To produce PET bottle resin, material

from the solidifier is sent to a solid stater unit and then processed into PET

resin (see Exhibit 297).

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Source: Bernstein analysis.

A small portion of polyester used in consumer goods is recycled to

form PET chip, which can then be converted to polyester staple fiber, fila-

men t or bottle resin. Recycling PET is labor-intensive due to th e sorting an d

classifying involved in collecting and separating polyester goods, such as

empty beverage bottles or food containers. Therefore, the recycling of PET

is driven by environmental concerns rather than economic justification,

since recycled polyester is generally more costly than virgin polyester. The

entire PET value chain linking is illustra ted in Exhibit 298.

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262 THE GLOBAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRY A PRIMER

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