Key issues for North American polyester

Michael Bermish, chemical principal analyst for energy research consultants Wood McKenzie, offers analysis on what to expect in the coming year in the opinion piece, “Will 2019 be another tumultuous year for the North American polyester industry?” In 2018, the North American polyester and upstream intermediates markets experienced major changes. Various plant outages tightened up the supply/demand balances, ownerships changed, PET resin pricing power shifted to producers, new fiber capacity was announced, and China’s waste ban was implemented. Bermish details key issues to focus on for 2019 including PET resin capacity restraints, tight PTA supply and a global surplus of MEG. For the full article, visit www.woodmac.com.