Japan August man-made fibre production falls 7.8%

18 September 2008 11:55 [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan’s production of man-made fibres declined 7.8% to 89,711 tonnes in August compared with the same month a year ago due to a large decrease in the output of acrylic staple, a spokesman from a local industry association said on Thursday.

Of the man-made fibres’ total, 76,479 tonnes were synthetic fibres, down 10.5% year on year, a spokesman from the Japan Chemical Fibers Association added.

Production of acrylic staple fibre saw the largest decrease of 43% to 11,083 tonnes due to a shift to polyester fibres from acrylic fibres in China because of the increased price of the latter, the spokesman said.

Japan’s export of acrylic staple fibre to China declined by almost a half of the figure from the year-earlier period, he added.

The country produced 19,825 tonnes of polyester filament, down 5.3% year on year, because demand for clothing applications was sluggish, according to the spokesman.

Month on month, output of nylon staple in August was 46.7% lower than the previous month at 32 tonnes because one producer was moving its manufacturing base and had temporarily stopped production, the spokesman said.

He declined to disclose the name of the producer, but added it would soon restart production at the new location.

To discuss issues facing the chemical industry go to ICIS connect

By: Tomomi Yokomura
+65 6780 4359

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly