Japan Feb ethylene production falls - JPCA

23 March 2007 08:38  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan produced 9.3% less ethylene in February compared with the previous month, industry figures showed on Friday.

 

The country produced 633,300 tonnes of ethylene in February, down from January, the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association (JPCA) said in a statement.

 

January output of ethylene was 697,700 tonnes, according to the previous ICIS news report.

 

The operating rate of the plants in February increased 0.4% month-on-month and 1.4% year-on-year.

 

No plants were undergoing turnarounds in February, January or February 2006.

 

February ethylene output was 1.9% higher than the same time a year ago.

 

February production of all of the 17 other products listed by JPCA fell, compared with January, due to the decreased number of days the plants were in operation, the association said.

 

Production of styrene polymer in February fell 16% to 64,400 tonnes compared with the previous month. This was a 5% decrease from the year-ago period.

 

February output of acrylonitrile (ACN) was 52,000 tonnes, a 16% decrease from January and a 1% increase from February 2006.

 

JPCA said all four resin products including low-density polyethylene (ldPE), high-density polyethylene (hdPE), polystyrene (PS) and polypropylene (PP) had lower output month-on-month because the days the plants were in operation decreased by three days.

 

On the other hand, exports of three resin products including hdPE, PP and PS dramatically increased in February compared with January due to stabilizing crude oil price.

 

February exports of PP rose 59% to 32,900 tonnes month-on-month, a 4% increase year-on-year.

 

Exports of PS in February increased by 17% to 2,800 tonnes from January and rose 100% from the same time a year ago.

 

Among benzene, toluene and mixed xylenes (BTX), meanwhile, exports of pure benzene for the January and February period rose 26% to 41,700 tonnes from 33,200 tonnes in the year-ago period, the Japan Aromatic Industry Association said on Friday.

 

January-February exports of pure toluene were record-high 48,100 tonnes, an 18% increase from 40,900 tonnes in January-February 2006.

 

Product	Feb-07	% change on month	% change on year
ethylene	633.3	-9	2
LDPE	146.1	-12	-3
HDPE	97.5	-3	3
PP	264.3	-7	9
styrene	64.4	-16	-5
	287.1	-11	1
vinyl chloride	178.5	0	5
	250.5	-11	-5
MMA monomer	45.1	-7	-1
ethylene oxide	82.7	-9	2
ethylene glycol	65.2	-16	1
acetaldehyde	24.6	-22	-16
ACN	52	-16	1
SBR (solid)	39.6	-12	-9
butadiene rubber (solid)	22.2	-15	12
aromatics	429.3	-11	5
aromatics	134	-13	-5
aromatics	460.3	-15	2

 

Japan chemical output ('000 tonne)

 

By: Tomomi Yokomura
+65 6780 4359

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