Japan’s April ethylene output falls 9%

21 May 2008 09:54  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan’s production of ethylene in April fell 8.9% year on year due to lower operating rates and a spate of turnarounds at plants across the country, a local industry association said in a statement on Wednesday.

The country produced 569,200 tonnes of ethylene in April, a 2.8% decrease from the month before, the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association (JPCA) said in a statement.

Two ethylene plants were shut down for turnarounds in April, while one plant underwent a turnaround in the same period a year earlier, the association said.

Three ethylene units were shut down in March, the association said, but did not provide further details.

Operating rate of the country’s ethylene plants in April at 94% showed a decrease of 4.5% over the previous year and a fall of 2% over production figures in March, the association said.

In April, the Japanese petrochemical industry saw a decline in profits from exports of chemical products due to high feedstock costs and the appreciation of the yen against dollar, JPCA said.

Among the four primary resins, polystyrene (PS) exports were higher in April than the previous year, and exports of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) showed a slight increase year on year, the association added.

On month on month comparison, exports of low-density polyethylene (LDPE), HDPE and polypropylene (PP) decreased, it said.

Among the 17 chemical products other than ethylene, output of 13 products including polyvinyl chloride (PVC), methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer, benzene, toluene and xylenes fell in April from the previous year due to a difference in the scales of turnarounds as well as other operating factors, JPCA said.

On month on month comparison, output of 11 products including HDPE, PP, benzene, toluene and xylenes declined in April due to a decrease in the number of days the plants operated, as well as the difference in the scales of turnarounds, it added.

Japan’s April petrochemical production

Product	Output (‘000 tonnes)	% change (month on month)	% change (year on year)
ethylene	569.2	-3	-9
LDPE	157.2	1	8
HDPE	68.6	-16	-19
PP	259.3	-1	5
PS	71.8	-2	-15
styrene monomer	222.7	-4	-15
PVC	145.2	2	-13
Vinyl chloride monomer	248.8	5	-9
MMA monomer	41.7	-17	-14
ethylene oxide	77.8	-9	8
ethylene glycol	54.5	-17	2
acetaldehyde	28	31	-11
ACN	42.3	7	-33
SBR (solid)	35.9	86	-1
butadiene rubber (solid)	22.2	-8	-8
benzene	341.6	-16	-17
toluene	111.7	-15	-9
xylene	435.2	-18	-12

Source: JPCA

By: Tomomi Yokomura
+65 6780 4359

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