Corrected: China imports more olefins, aromatics in January

03 March 2008 07:54 [Source: ICIS news]

Correction: In the ICIS news story headlined "China imports more olefins, aromatics in January" dated 3 March, 2008, statistics for 2006 and 2007 has been changed. A corrected story follows.

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--China was a strong importer of olefins and aromatics in January 2008 compared with the same month a year ago, statistics from the country’s customs bureau showed on Monday.

Its ethylene imports figures saw a two-fold increase to 59,292 tonnes from 19,169 tonnes year-on-year while its butadiene imports more than doubled to 190,080 tonnes from 8,671 tonnes.

Propylene imports also climbed 33% to 57,158 tonnes in 2008.

Overall, the aromatics sector saw a surge in benzene and paraxylene (PX) imports.

Benzene imports increased three-fold to 25,330 tonnes from 8,661 tonnes while PX imports closed 87% higher at 301,341 tonnes.

The country’s import of polymers, however, declined in January with linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), polypropylene (PP) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) imports dipping 23%, 20% and 78% respectively.

LDPE was the only exception with import figures up to 223,456 tonnes in January from 79,410 tonnes in the same month of 2007.

Naphtha exports jumped 79% to 151,757 tonnes while imports plunged 75% to 40,175 tonnes, from 159,547 tonnes in the previous corresponding period.

Naphtha imports could rise in the following months as the government removed a yuan (CNY) 0.06/litre ($0.008/litre) consumption levy for the petrochemical sector in February.

Product	Period	Import (tonnes)	Export (tonnes)
Naphtha	Jan 2008	40175 (-75%)	151757 (79%)
	Jan 2007	159547	84609
	2007	1068131	1738920
	2006	639178	1573068
Olefins
Product	Period	Import (tonnes)	Export (tonnes)
Ethylene	Jan 2008	59292 (209%)	12 (-100%)
	Jan 2007	19169	12222
	2007	509821	49656
	2006	117366	128725
Propylene	Jan 2008	57158 (33%)	0 (NA)
	Jan 2007	42881	0
	2007	727804	86
	2006	321158	1538
Butadiene	Jan 2008	19080 (120%)	910 (-29%)
	Jan 2007	8671	1274
	2007	111186	24708
	2006	89159	26941
Polymers
Product	Period	Import (tonnes)	Export (tonnes)
HDPE	Jan 2008	223456 (-11%)	1767 (-2%)
	Jan 2007	251600	1803
	2007	2091227	37946
	2006	2419487	20007
LDPE	Jan 2008	223456 (181%)	1767 (36%)
	Jan 2007	79410	1296
	2007	772597	15575
	2006	931791	14772
LLDPE	Jan 2008	135630 (-23%)	251 (-35%)
	Jan 2007	175523	385
	2007	1670555	6856
	2006	1540592	4846
PP	Jan 2008	229501 (-20%)	2300 (1%)
	Jan 2007	285528	2267
	2007	3070064	31128
	2006	2944674	26237
PVC	Jan 2008	26152 (-78%)	2582 (-94%)
	Jan 2007	121139	43122
	2007	1303878	752978
	2006	1452150	499377
PS	Jan 2008	95782 (-5%)	18517 (-11%)
	Jan 2007	100900	20898
	2007	1323681	308008
	2006	1319142	188376
ABS	Jan 2008	173677 (13%)	2483 (11%)
	Jan 2007	153449	2230
	2007	2172748	32357
	2006	2014742	19577
PC	Jan 2008	80944 (11%)	26391 (116%)
	Jan 2007	73060	12200
	2007	1020757	306129
	2006	899271	185437
Aromatics
Product	Period	Import (tonnes)	Export (tonnes)
Benzene	Jan 2008	25330 (192%)	6011 (101%)
	Jan 2007	8661	2998
	2007	248736	56129
	2006	297654	189851
Toluene	Jan 2008	36064 (-23%)	49 (-66%)
	Jan 2007	46746	143
	2007	444638	2108
	2006	567137	2627
MX	Jan 2008	39 (-72%)	15 (114%)
	Jan 2007	139	7
	2007	6868	93
	2006	10287	91
PX	Jan 2008	301341 (87%)	28312 (95%)
	Jan 2007	161414	14545
	2007	2903062	251970
	2006	1840172	97796
Intermediates
Product	Period	Import (tonnes)	Export (tonnes)
SM	Jan 2008	283704 (13%)	9 (-31%)
	Jan 2007	252076	13
	2007	3101454	164
	2006	2343044	5917
PTA	Jan 2008	401990 (-40%)	0 (NA)
	Jan 2007	670384	0
	2007	5992544	47
	2006	7004327	6
MEG	Jan 2008	434856 (-2%)	9178 (3377%)
	Jan 2007	443045	264
	2007	4801753	2088
	2006	4061283	911
ACN	Jan 2008	34780 (14%)	3998 (100%)
	Jan 2007	30501	1996
	2007	435542	1996
	2006	324477	51941
Caprolactam	Jan 2008	42512 (-2%)	0 (NA)
	Jan 2007	43491	0
	2007	472480	28
	2006	444561	34
Phenol	Jan 2008	36504 (34%)	128 (412%)
	Jan 2007	27200	25
	2007	456902	375
	2006	284622	388
Others
Product	Period	Import (tonnes)	Export (tonnes)
Methanol	Jan 2008	18733 (27%)	84968 (6035%)
	Jan 2007	14724	1385
	2007	845045	562685
	2006	1127297	190033
Acetone	Jan 2008	31799 (-3%)	33 (-65%)
	Jan 2007	32948	94
	2007	481759	652
	2006	395945	508
BPA	Jan 2008	34311 (-11%)	70 (94%)
	Jan 2007	38505	36
	2007	460523	2122
	2006	359552	3599
IPA	Jan 2008	8850 (63%)	317 (291%)
	Jan 2007	5421	81
	2007	109828	1321
	2006	95773	1177
MEK	Jan 2008	5289 (-41%)	2025 (286%)
	Jan 2007	8923	524
	2007	87607	18934
	2006	94478	28061
MIBK	Jan 2008	3889 (-11%)	(NA)
	Jan 2007	4346	0
	2007	46732	58
	2006	44860	101
Ethanol	Jan 2008	17 (-29%)	3070 (-81%)
	Jan 2007	24	16458
	2007	154	110717
	2006	5930	970721

Source: China Customs

By: Serene Cheong
+65 6780 4359

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