Asia is poised to spearhead the global polyethylene (PE) capacity additions by 2030, mainly due to its escalating demand of PE from various end-use application segments such as packaging, construction and consumer goods. Moreover, the massive manufacturing sector of Asia relies heavily on PE for various industrial and consumer applications.

Asia is anticipated to add a PE production capacity of 28.94 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) during 2025 to 2030 from 47 planned and 22 announced projects. China and India are the two countries that are central to the capacity additions in the region, with 14.08mtpa and 8.44mtpa, respectively.

The highest capacity additions in the region are expected from an announced project in India - 'Haldia Petrochemicals Balasore Polyethylene Plant', with a capacity of 1.08mtpa. The project is located in the Odisha state and is expected to commence operations in 2030. Haldia Petrochemicals is the designated operator of this project with a 100% equity stake. Haldia Petrochemicals is also planning two more plants in Cuddalore within the Tamil Nadu state, each with a capacity of 0.65mtpa.

'Zhejiang Petrochemical Daishan Polyethylene Plant 7 (Swing)' in China, and 'PT Trans Pacific Petrochemical Indotama Tuban Polyethylene Plant (Swing)' in Indonesia are the other major projects in terms of capacity additions, each with 0.70mtpa, in the region.

The Middle East is the other key region that is expected to add a substantial capacity of 11.79mtpa by 2030. The capacity additions in the Middle East are from 29 planned and announced projects, 20 of which are in Iran. By 2030, North America is also expected to witness a capacity addition of 2.60mtpa, from three planned projects, all in the US. Further details of global PE capacity and capital expenditure analysis can be found in leading data and analytics company GlobalData’s new report, Polyethylene Industry Capacity and Capital Expenditure Forecasts with Details of All Active and Planned Plants to 2030.