Vinyl chloride monomer: Feedstocks

Over half chlorine: why salt matters as much as gas

What this tab covers What it is made from and what it feeds: the raw materials and energy per tonne with their share of cost (linked to the commodity table), who is low-cost and why, and the chemicals made from it.

VCM is about 57% chlorine and 43% ethylene-derived carbon and hydrogen by weight. Producers with cheap ethane-based ethylene and integrated chlor-alkali (US Gulf, Middle East) are lowest cost. In China, coal-based calcium carbide competes inland. Naphtha-based Europe and Japan sit at the top of the curve.

Inputs per tonne

Input	Quantity per tonne	Role	Share of cost	Source
Gas Natural gas	about 0.47 t per t VCM	carbon backbone	about 60-70% of cash cost on the ethylene route (indicative)	stoichiometry (indicative)
NaCl Salt	about 0.58 t per t VCM	chlorine source	variable; low when chlorine is long	stoichiometry
Tc Thermal coal	about 0.8-0.9 t coke per t carbide (indicative)	carbide reductant and power	dominant on the carbide route	indicative
CaO Lime	about 0.9 t quicklime per t carbide (indicative)	calcium source	about 15-20% on the carbide route (indicative)	indicative
Hg Mercury	about 1 kg catalyst per t PVC (indicative)	catalyst	small	indicative; Minamata Convention Annex B

Who is low-cost, and why

US Gulf and Middle East ethane-based integrated producers are lowest cost; Chinese carbide producers are competitive inland with cheap coal and power; naphtha-based Europe and Japan are highest. US PVC export prices well below Asian levels prompted duties in Europe, the UK and Brazil.

Raw materials on the commodity table

NaCl Salt Gas Natural gas

What it is made into

Product	Note
PVC PVC	more than 99% of VCM
DOP Plasticisers	used with flexible PVC
Add Polymer additives	PVC heat stabilisers