Today’s market for para-xylene is predominately directed towards the production of a variety of fibers, films, and resins. Para-xylene is a key intermediate in the synthesis of purified tetraphthalic acid (PTA) and dimethyl terephthalate (DMT),both of which are used in the production of industrial plastics and polyesters. Specifically, PTA is used in the production of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle resins. Relatively smaller amounts of para-xylene are used as a solvent.