After a spectacular 1999, growth of PP seems to be slowing down. The over capacity and weaker prices along with higher costs of feedstock as well as energy have eroded earnings of PP producers. Several consolidations and restructuring have taken place in the last few years to achieve better profitability. The major consolidations that have already taken place are:

	Formation of Basell Polyolefins by merger of Elenac, Montell and Targor.
	Merger of BP & Amoco. Further consolidation by acquisition of Appryl & Solvay PP capacities. Strategic shift to PP    polymer by divestment of PP fiber and compounding business of Amoco.
	Dow becoming an important PP player after the acquisition of UCC.

Despite these consolidations, which are likely to continue, the PP industry requires more efforts to become healthier in the next few years. Larger economic plant size or minimum critical mass alone may not be sufficient. It is essential that major efforts on newer application developments would be required to continue the inherent strength of PP on substitution of traditional materials as well as the other plastics. The growth of about eight percentage that was achieved during the decade of 90s to reach a level of almost 29 million tones consumption in 2000 is certainly not feasible without the success of the newer markets. Catalysts driven technology that has been at the center of PP developments so far can only tap these newer markets.
The technologies of Metallocene and other Single Site Catalysts could help in achieving some market share of the other applications. Some of the newer developments that are likely to help enhancing the growth of PP in the next five years are:

	Higher Isotactic Homopolymers and Copolymers.
	Syndiotactic Grades
	Improved Copolymers and Terpolymers with higher Alpha Olefins.
	Elastomeric Grades
	Functionalized Grades for Engineering Applications
	Hyper branched Products.
	Styrenic Modified Products
	Other Functionalized Products with Acrylates/Esters etc.

The PP producers that will concentrate on these developments are expected to perform better and can expect to have long-term profitability. Otherwise the excess capacity that is likely to remain, despite several delays and cancellation of newer projects will continue to exert pressures on profitability of the PP producers. It is definitely not possible to maintain the same growth that has been so far seen in PP. To achieve even 90% of the average growth of eight percentage over the next five years (say seven percentage), the technology innovations in products are absolutely essential. The primary success factor for the future is the right planning and competitive positioning in order to excel in such a complex and intensely competitive environment. Key to good planning is using the right and most cost-effective technology to produce higher value enhanced performance PP products that meet new market needs. Assessing the strategic and competitive alternatives for polypropylene and its co-polymers will be especially important for current producers, potential new competitors and technology development / licensors in order to optimize business growth and profitability.