Japan June ethylene output up 1.8% on month

21 July 2006 08:33  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan’s June ethylene output rose 1.8% compared with May to 599,600 tonnes, according to Japan Petrochemical Industry Association figures released on Thursday.

Ethylene output in June was 2.4% higher than the same time last year.

In June, three ethylene plants, operated by two companies, had turnarounds, the association said. Three were also three ethylene plants that had turnarounds in May as well as in June last year, they added.

Of other 17 products that the association regularly reports on, 11 had lower output compared with the previous month, whereas the output of six products were higher.

The association said that this was because the number of days the plants were in operation in June was fewer than the previous month, and also due to the scale of the turnarounds. 

On year-on-year comparison, output of seven products increased, while 10 products had lower output.  

On exports, the association said that despite the rising prices of crude oil and naphtha, the market condition in southeast Asia was improving. It added that the exports of low-density polyethylene (ldPE), high-density polyethylene (hdPE) and polypropylene (PP) in June increased from a year before, largely due to the overall low level of exports last year.

		June 2006	% change on month	% change on year
ethylene		599.6	2	2
ldPE		139.4	-1	-1
hdPE		89.6	9	0
PP		192.1	-14	-17
styrene	polymer	69.5	-10	-6
	monomer	295.5	12	5
vinyl chloride	polymer	159.2	1	2
	monomer	235.9	1	9
MMA monomer		44.7	-4	-4
ethylene oxide		65.3	-10	-8
ethylene glycol		41.0	-19	-27
acetaldehyde		28.1	-17	-1
ACN		64.5	11	-1
SBR (solid)		34.6	-12	12
butadiene rubber (solid)		17.0	-25	0
aromatics	benzene	348.8	-7	-4
aromatics	toluene	136.5	11	15
aromatics	xylene	414.5	-3	5

Source: JPCA

Values are in thousands of tonnes.

By: Tomomi Yokomura
+65 6780 4359

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