Japan’s ethylene production rises 4.3% in May

19 June 2008 10:22  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan’s production of ethylene in May rose 4.3% month on month due to higher operating rates and the increased number of days the plants operated for, a local industry association said on Thursday.

 

The country produced 594,400 tonnes of ethylene in May, a 7.6% decrease from the same period a year before, the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association (JPCA) said.

 

The operating rates at the country’s ethylene plants was 97.3% in May, up from 94.1% in April and down from 99.6% in the year earlier period.

 

Three ethylene plants were shut for turnarounds in May, while two plants were undergoing turnarounds the previous month and in May 2007.

 

Among 17 products other than ethylene, 11 products including high-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), styrene monomer (SM) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) had a higher output in May from the month earlier period due to an increase in the number of days the plants were in operation, as well as there being fewer turnarounds, JPCA said.

 

On a year on year comparison, 12 products including polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), PVC and benzene saw lower output due to the difference in scales of turnarounds, it added.

 

Exports of three polyolefin products comprising LDPE, HDPE and PP increased compared with the previous month because negative currency exchange factors had lessened, the association said.

 

Exports of HDPE and PS were also higher in May compared with the year-ago period, JPCA said.  

 

 

Japan’s May chemical production

 

 

Product	output ('000 tonnes)	% change  mth-on-mth	% change  yr-on-yr
ethylene	594.4	4	-8
LDPE	162.9	4	4
HDPE	91.6	34	12
PP	248.7	-4	-6
PS	66.6	-7	-15
styrene monomer	274.1	23	-6
PVC	147.7	2	-17
vinyl chloride monomer	215.5	-13	-9
MMA monomer	44.6	7	3
ethylene oxide	80.1	3	-5
ethylene glycol	55	1	-18
acetaldehyde	27.1	-3	-16
ACN	60.6	43	-10
SBR (solid)	42.1	17	8
butadiene rubber  (solid)	20.6	-7	-16
benzene	378.7	11	-7
toluene	108.5	-3	-11
xylene	468.7	8	5

  

Source: JPCA

 

By: Tomomi Yokomura
+65 6780 4359

< previous article(ICIS Chemical Business podcast November 2, 2009)

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