Market
Polyethylene terephthalate is a high-performance material for the packaging industry and is widely used for the production of bottles for carbonated and non-carbonated mineral water, soft drinks, food-grade vegetable oil, tea, juices and isotonic beverages.
PET is also used in the manufacture of containers for detergents, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals, and for thermoforming applications. Increasing quantities of beer are sold in PET barrier bottles.
The bottle application represents approximately 90% of the total PET demand. Interesting to note is that the total bottle demand is met by three main grades, differentiated by their level of Intrinsic Viscosity (IV):
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Low viscosity (IV 0.76), used in the flat mineral water segment
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Medium viscosity (IV 0.80), mainly used in the carbonated mineral waters segment
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High viscosity (IV 0.84), used in the carbonated soft drinks segment