Japan's polymer exports up in April

25 May 2007 04:47  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan’s exports of polymers in April rose, with polystyrene (PS) recording the highest jump at 54% compared with the same period a year ago, statistics from a local association showed on Friday.

The country exported 3,700 tonnes of PS in April, up from April 2006, the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association (JPCA) said in a statement.

This was a 10% increase from 3,300 tonnes in March.

Exports of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) also recorded a 41% year-on-year rise to 8,700 tonnes, while that of polypropylene (PP) and low-density polyethylene (LDPE) were up 17% and 1% respectively.

The association also provided statistics on the country’s petrochemical output which showed that output of most products such as methyl methacrylate (MMA), acrylonitrile (ACN) and butadiene rubber (BR) in April were higher than the year-ago period because the scales of the plants’ turnarounds were smaller.

Output of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ethylene oxide (EO) and ethylene glycol (EG) fell.

Japan polymer sales (Unit: ‘000 tonnes)

		Shipment			Inventory
		Japan	Exports	Total
LDPE	Quantity	135.9	18.5	154.4	400.4
	% change on month	- 4	-24	-7	-2
	% change on year	1	1	1	4
HDPE	Quantity	80.8	8.7	89.5	189.8
	% change on month	-7	-36	-11	-3
	% change on year	3	41	5	1
PP	Quantity	232.5	27.1	259.6	625.1
	% change on month	-11	-40	-15	-1
	% on year	1	17	2	11
PS	Quantity	73.1	3.7	76.7	110.3
	% change on month	-9	10	-9	7
	% on year	-2	54	0	21

Japan’s April chemicals output (Unit: ‘000 tonnes)

Product	Output	% change  month-on-month	% change  year-on-year
Ethylene	623.6	-8	13
LEPE	145.9	-10	1
HDPE	85.2	-9	38
PP	248	-11	-2
PS	84.4	15	19
Styrene monomer	263.4	-9	20
PVC	166.9	-7	-1
Vinyl chloride monomer	272.5	-1	-2
MMA monomer	48.4	1	15
Ethylene oxide	72.2	-15	-14
Ethylene glycol	53.3	-21	-18
Acetaldehyde	31.5	6	27
ACN	63.4	0	57
SBR (solid)	36.3	35	10
Butadiene rubber  (solid)	24	1	19
Benzene	409.4	-11	14
Toluene	122.4	-22	11
Xylene	492.3	-12	7

By: Tomomi Yokomura
+65 6780 4359

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly