Japan ethylene production falls due to turnarounds

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan’s production of ethylene (C2) in August decreased 1.1% year on year, industry figures showed on Friday, the fall attributed to an increase in the number of plant turnarounds during the month.

The country produced 636,800 tonnes of C2 in August, a decrease of 7,100 tonnes from the same time a year ago, the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association (JPCA) said in a statement. This was, however, a 3.1% increase from July.

The operating rates of the country’s ethylene plants in August stood at 95%, down 3.2% year on year and a decline of 2.7% month on month.

Two plants operated by two unnamed companies were shut for turnarounds in August, while only one plant underwent a turnaround in August 2006.

Meanwhile, Japan’s exports of three of the four polymers including high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS) in August increased compared with the same period a year ago.

PS achieved the greatest year-on-year increase by 28% to 2,900 tonnes. This was, however, a 7% decrease from the previous month.

In terms of a month-on-month comparison, HDPE showed the greatest increase by 19% to 11,000 tonnes and was up 5% year on year.

PP showed a 16% rise in exports year on year. The association declined to provide a reason for the jump.

Among the 17 products other than ethylene the association reported on, the output of nine chemicals including methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer, styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) rose in August compared with the previous year mainly due to the difference in the scales of turnarounds, it said.

Meanwhile, 12 chemicals including MMA monomer, ethylene oxide (EO), ethylene glycol (EG) and BTX exhibited higher output in August compared with July due to the same reason.

Japan petrochemicals output in August
Product	Output	% Change m-o-m	% Change y-o-y
Ethylene	636,800	3%	-1%
LDPE	148,900	0%	-4%
HDPE	99,500	2%	4%
PP	257,200	14%	-1%
PS	80,300	2%	-1%
Styrene Monomer	319,300	-2%	7%
PVC	165,500	-3%	-3%
Vinyl Chloride Monomer	240,500	-12%	-14%
MMA Monomer	48,000	10%	2%
Ethylene Oxide	74,100	24%	-12%
Ethylene Glycol	57,800	41%	-18%
Acetaldehyde	33,700	5%	9%
ACN	61,000	-8%	-1%
SBR (solid)	42,900	7%	5%
Butadiene Rubber (solid)	24,000	41%	7%
Benzene	461,300	6%	14%
Toluene	138,300	3%	4%
Xylene	535,000	3%	6%

Japan polymer exports in July
Product	Export	% Change m-o-m	% Change y-o-y
LDPE	19,700	1%	-1%
HDPE	11,000	19%	5%
PP	31,400	5%	16%
PS	2,900	-7%	28%