Japan’s September ethylene production falls 3.7%

19 October 2007 10:48  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan’s production of ethylene (C2) in September fell 3.7% compared with the previous month, industry figures showed on Friday, due to issues at the producers’ plants.

 

The country produced 614,100 tonnes of C2 in September, a decrease of 23,500 tonnes from August, the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association (JPCA) said in a statement. This was, however, a 6.1% increase from a year earlier.

 

The number of days the country’s C2 plants operated in September fell 3.2% from August, while it was unchanged from the same period a year ago.

 

Operating rates at the country’s ethylene plants in September totaled 96.9%, a 1.8% increase month on month and a 1.8% decrease year on year. Meanwhile, a facility run by one producer was shut for a turnaround in September.

 

Meanwhile, Japan’s exports of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP) in September all decreased compared with the previous month (see table below), the JPCA said.

 

However, exports of polystyrene (PS) in September increased by 40% to 4,000 tonnes from August.

 

In terms of a year-on-year comparison, PS also achieved the greatest increase, up 143%.

 

Among the 17 products other than ethylene the association reported on, the output of 12 products including styrene monomer (SM), methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer, benzene, toluene and xylene (BTX) fell in September compared with August, primarily because more plants were shut for the autumn turnaround season, the association said.

 

Meanwhile, 12 products including SM, vinyl chloride monomer (VCM), styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) and benzene experienced higher output year on year due to the difference in the scales of turnarounds, it said.

 

Japan petrochemicals output in September

 

Product	Output in tonnes	% change month-on-month	% change year-on-year
Ethylene	614,000	-4	6
LDPE	126,400	-15	-6
HDPE	96,900	-3	5
PP	226,100	-12	-7
PS	74,900	-7	-8
Styrene monomer	273,600	-14	8
PVC	182,600	10	-3
Vinyl chloride monomer	271,600	13	17
MMA monomer	44,500	-7	1
Ethylene oxide	88,100	19	22
Ethylene glycol	66,500	15	16
Acetaldehyde	27,900	-17	11
ACN	56,3000	-8	3
SBR (solid)	44,000	3	8
Butadiene rubber (solid)	18,000	-25	-25
Benzene	423,500	-8	8
Toluene	127,000	-8	1
Xylene	494,200	-8	3

 

Japan polymer exports in September

 

Product	Quantity in tonnes	% change month-on-month	% change year-on-year
LDPE	17,600	-10	-12
HDPE	9,200	-17	-34
PP	29,100	-7	14
PS	4,000	40	143

 

By: Tomomi Yokomura
+65 6780 4359

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