Japan increases ethylene production 4.5% in July

22 August 2008 09:57  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan increased production of ethylene by 4.5% to 598,300 tonnes in July compared with June due to fewer crackers being in turnaround, a local industry association said on Friday.

 

This was a 3.1% decrease from the same time the year before, the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association (JPCA) said.

 

Three crackers were shut for maintenance turnarounds in July and the year-ago period, while four crackers were undergoing turnarounds in June, according to JPCA.

 

The operating rate of the country’s crackers was 97.3%, down from 97.8% in July 2007 and a decrease from 98.4% in June, the association added.

 

Among 17 other chemical products, 10 products including polypropylene (PP), vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) and benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX) had higher output in July compared with the previous month due to the increased number of days the plants were in operation as well as the smaller scales of turnarounds, JPCA said.

 

Year on year, 13 products including low-density polyethylene (LDPE), high-density PE (HDPE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) had lower output, the association added.

 

Among the four primary resins including LDPE, HDPE, PP and polystyrene (PS), exports of HDPE and PS increased from June, while exports of PS also increased from the previous year, JPCA said.

 

Japan’s July chemical production 

Product	output ('000 tonnes)	% change  month on month	% change year on year
Ethylene	598.3	4	-3
Low density PE	145.5	0	-2
High density PE	87.1	-1	-10
Polypropylene	210.6	1	-7
Polystyrene	70.2	13	-11
Styrene monomer	259.3	1	-20
Polyvinyl chloride	132.9	-3	-22
Vinyl chloride monomer	250.4	26	-9
Methyl methacrylate	42.4	-1	-3
Ethylene oxide	67.8	34	14
Ethylene glycol	43.4	83	6
Acetaldehyde	25.6	15	-20
Acrylonitrile	64.3	-3	-3
Styrene butadiene rubber	40.8	-8	2
Butadiene rubber  (solid)	17.6	-8	3
Benzene	396.6	9	-9
Toluene	121.4	21	-9
Xylene	517.3	22	0

 Source: JPCA

By: Tomomi Yokomura
+65 6780 4359

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