China ethylene imports slowdown to hit global industry - consultant

06 February 2009 13:41  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--China’s import volumes of ethylene-based products have stalled and will not increase over the next few years, putting further supply-driven pressure on the global petrochemical industry, an industry consultant said on Friday.

The expected oversupply of ethylene-based chemicals by 2010 will be exacerbated by increased domestic China supply, lower China market growth and lower imports demand, said Masaru Kani, executive consultant with Mitsubishi Chemical Techno-Research, a publisher of extensive, detailed studies on the sector.

China’s imports of styrene dropped in 2008 and imports of monoethylene glycol (MEG) were on a par with 2007, he said.

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) imports decreased while imports of polyethylene (PE) were on a level with 2007.

Kani does not expect China ethylene derivatives imports to increase in the near term but to trend downwards – a run against pre-credit crunch expectations.

Import levels would also become saturated as domestic supply increased, he said.

By 2011, Kani expected China to import close to 10m tonnes of ethylene equivalents but Middle East ethylene equivalents output to be 13m tonnes.

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By: Nigel Davis
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