Higher exports of both polymer grades are projected from Western Europe and Asia-Pacific.

ITP’s projections for global trade volume have consistently been within two percentage points of final data. The trend in global trade volume generally indicates the trend in global demand, given supply availability.

Western Europe and Asia-Pacific are the world’s largest exporting regions for general purpose polystyrene. Western Europe’s exports are mainly to Eastern Europe (noting Poland and Turkey) and Africa. Asia-Pacific ships to numerous markets in Western and Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East (noting Turkey, Egypt, South Africa, Mexico, UAE). Asia-Pacific’s exports to Latin America are projected down slightly for the year.

Western Europe and Asia-Pacific are also the world’s largest exporting regions for expandable polystyrene. Nearly all of Western Europe’s volume is to Eastern Europe (Poland). Asia-Pacific’s largest markets are: Latin America; Middle East, Eastern Europe, and Africa (noting Brazil, Saudi Arabia, UAE).

From International Trader Publications’ World Trade Analyses of trade in General Purpose and Expandable Polystyrene, continuously updated based on the latest statistics from all available countries.