PP Margins Fall; Feedstock Costs Rise Too Quickly.(Brief Article)

Global, demand remains strong following record growth rates last year.

DESPITE RECORD-SETTING demand in 1999, which continued during the first half of the year, polypropylene producers are seeing margins shrink as rising monomer prices outpace their own increases.

Last year, global demand for polypropylene soared 10.8 percent over 1998 figures, according to Phillip Townsend Associates, a consultancy based in Houston. North America exhibited 12.4 percent growth, and Asia-Pacific led the way with 13.7 percent growth.

Polypropylene consumption is exp