China imports more olefins, less aroms in May

30 June 2008 12:28  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--China’s olefin imports rose in May as compared to the same month last year while aromatics imports fell on weak demand, statistics released by China Customs showed on Monday.

The rise was largely in line with the April import figures, as domestic demand from the Chinese market remained strong. Posting the largest increase was propylene with a 75% year-on-year rise to 85,548 tonnes from 48,881 tonnes.

Refineries continued to export naphtha in a bid to fetch margins, as domestic oil prices remained lower than international values due to strict price controls imposed by the government.

Aromatics import figures fell on weak domestic demand and high inventory levels with benzene, mixed xylenes (MX) and para-xylenes (PX) falling 12%, 68% and 18% respectively.

Chinese imports of intermediates showed mixed results as styrene monomer (SM) posted a 12% increase while purified terepthalic acid (PTA) registered a 17% fall year on year.

In the polymer cluster, an overall decrease in export was evident due to turnarounds during the month and tight domestic supplies.

Product	Period	Import (tonnes)	Export (tonnes)
Naphtha	May 2008	38,926 (-64%)	144,963 (150%)
	May 2007	109,514	58,076
	2007	1,068,131	1,738,920
	2006	639,178	1,573,068
Olefins
Product	Period	Import (tonnes)	Export (tonnes)
Ethylene	May 2008	61,495 (19%)	3,016 (-71%)
	May 2007	51,633	10,580
	2007	509,821	49,656
	2006	117,366	128,725
Propylene	May 2008	85,546 (75%)	3 (NA)
	May 2007	48,881	0
	2007	727,804	86
	2006	321,158	1,538
Butadiene	May 2008	8,990 (19%)	1,804 (-50%)
	May 2007	7,553	3,634
	2007	111,186	24,708
	2006	89,159	26,941
Polymers
Product	Period	Import (tonnes)	Export (tonnes)
hdPE	May 2008	217,097 (44%)	1,727 (-42%)
	May 2007	150,251	2,964
	2007	2,091,227	37,946
	2006	2,419,487	20,007
ldPE	May 2008	60,494 (-2%)	920 (-35%)
	May 2007	61,648	1,423
	2007	772,597	15,575
	2006	931,791	14,772
lldPE	May 2008	124,565 (-6%)	484 (-27%)
	May 2007	132,239	661
	2007	1,670,555	6,856
	2006	1,540,592	4,846
PP	May 2008	234,021 (3%)	3,026 (12%)
	May 2007	227,515	2,697
	2007	3,070,064	31,128
	2006	2,944,674	26,237
PVC	May 2008	92,597 (62%)	61,689 (-11%)
	May 2007	57,189	69,019
	2007	1,303,878	752,978
	2006	1,452,150	499,377
PS	May 2008	109,510 (4%)	37,626 (24%)
	May 2007	105,080	30,424
	2007	1,323,681	308,008
	2006	1,319,142	188,376
ABS	May 2008	189,185 (4%)	3,268 (38%)
	May 2007	181,436	2,375
	2007	2,172,748	32,357
	2006	2,014,742	19,577
PC	May 2008	85,827 (14%)	27,636 (22%)
	May 2007	75,568	22,637
	2007	1,020,757	306,129
	2006	899,271	185,437
Aromatics
Product	Period	Import (tonnes)	Export (tonnes)
Benzene	May 2008	20,881 (-12%)	2,863 (-52%)
	May 2007	23,726	5,972
	2007	248,736	56,129
	2006	297,654	189,851
Toluene	May 2008	36,386 (26%)	170 (-11%)
	May 2007	28,898	191
	2007	444,638	2,108
	2006	567,137	2,627
MX	May 2008	36 (-68%)	1 (-86%)
	May 2007	114	7
	2007	6,868	93
	2006	10,287	91
PX	May 2008	214,911 (-18%)	55,445 (383%)
	May 2007	262,792	11,490
	2007	2,903,062	251,970
	2006	1,840,172	97,796
Intermediates
Product	Period	Import (tonnes)	Export (tonnes)
SM	May 2008	247,318 (12%)	5 (-71%)
	May 2007	220,463	17
	2007	3,101,454	164
	2006	2,343,044	5,917
PTA	May 2008	391,426 (-17%)	0 (NA)
	May 2007	473,450	0
	2007	5,992,544	47
	2006	7,004,327	6
MEG	May 2008	478,443 (30%)	131 (-24%)
	May 2007	367,375	172
	2007	4,801,753	2,088
	2006	4,061,283	911
ACN	May 2008	29,641 (-25%)	(NA)
	May 2007	39,392	0
	2007	435,542	1,996
	2006	324,477	51,941
Caprolactam	May 2008	46,439 (31%)	2 (NA)
	May 2007	35,369	0
	2007	472,480	28
	2006	444,561	34
Phenol	May 2008	28,578 (-28%)	29 (-60%)
	May 2007	39,848	72
	2007	456,902	375
	2006	284,622	388
Others
Product	Period	Import (tonnes)	Export (tonnes)
Methanol	May 2008	119,165 (20%)	8,231 (-73%)
	May 2007	99,135	30,165
	2007	845,045	562,685
	2006	1,127,297	190,033
Acetone	May 2008	33,732 (-11%)	12 (-50%)
	May 2007	37,889	24
	2007	481,759	652
	2006	395,945	508
BPA	May 2008	26,216 (-23%)	16 (-36%)
	May 2007	33,995	25
	2007	460,523	2,122
	2006	359,552	3,599
IPA	May 2008	11,030 (-7%)	64 (-11%)
	May 2007	11,853	72
	2007	109,828	1,321
	2006	95,773	1,177
MEK	May 2008	5,801 (-37%)	1,537 (-55%)
	May 2007	9,247	3,444
	2007	87,607	18,934
	2006	94,478	28,061
Ethanol	May 2008	2 (-67%)	1,126 (-91%)
	May 2007	6	12,759
	2007	460,523	2,122
	2006	359,552	3,599

Source: China Customs 

By: Bohan Loh
+65 6780 4359

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