Japan’s April SM production declines 11%, PS output rises 4%
19 May 2010 09:11 [Source: ICIS news]
TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan’s production of styrene monomer (SM) in April declined 11% year on year to 225,168 tonnes due to shutdowns at five SM units, a source from a local industry association said on Wednesday.
This was a 14.5% hike from March, according to the official from the Japan Styrene Industry Association (JSIA).
Scheduled maintenance had shut down two lines at Asahi Kasei, one unit of Idemitsu Kosan, and two units of Nippon Steel Chemical, the official said, adding that the plants had resumed operations towards the end of April.
Exports of SM dropped 22% year on year to 111,512 tonnes in April due to the turnarounds, the official said.
SM production in the January-March quarter totalled 682,715 tonnes, up 8% from the corresponding period a year earlier, while exports were down 17% to 327,364 tonnes, JSIA statistics showed.
Among SM’s different applications, demand for synthetic rubber and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resin had shown a significant recovery while polystyrene (PS) production also increased year on year, the official said.
PS production in April 2010 increased 4% year on year to 61,659 tonnes, JSIA figures showed. This was a 3% increase from March, according to the association.
In the first quarter of 2010, PS production rose 45% to 182,163 tonnes from the year-ago period on a significant recovery in demand, the JSIA official said.
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By: Tomomi Yokomura
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