2. Producers

The first and main producer of PPS was Phillips, which became Chevron/Philips when the two companies joined forces in 2000. Other producers appeared as early as 1987, when the first patents fell into the public domain.

Producers (table 1 ) offer both polymer and compounds, considered as proprietary grades. The addition of compounds to total plant capacity tends to increase estimates, and some items may be counted twice as polymer capacity, then as compounds capacity, sometimes in a different country. Total polymer PPS capacity is in the region of 100,000 t worldwide, taking into account the capacity increases indicated for the current year 2012. However, this figure may be slightly overestimated due to compounds. Similarly, the tonnage of glass and other reinforcing fibers is always included in resin...