China's imports of most petrochemicals up in October

25 November 2011 09:44  [Source: ICIS news]

SHANGHAI (ICIS)--China’s petrochemical imports increased for most products in October, with those of isopropanol (IPA), butyl acrylate (butyl-A) and mixed xylenes (MX) increasing significantly year on year, official data showed on Friday.

The country imported 101,992 tonnes of ethylene in October, a 36% year-on-year increase and a rise of 28% from September, China customs data showed.

China also imported 11,393 tonnes of butadiene (BD) in October, an increase of 50% year on year and 30% month on month, the data showed.

ICIS tracks China’s imports of 36 petrochemical products, 19 of which showed increased volumes year on year, while 17 products registered declines.

Toluene imports decreased to 32,818 tonnes, a decrease of 58% year on year, according to the data. The decline was mainly because several aromatics units in Asia were shut down for maintenance in October, an industry source said.

The import volume of naphtha was 213,980 tonnes in October, a decrease of 9% year on year but an increase of 24% month on month, according to data from the China Customs.

October 2011	Import			Export
Product	Import (tonnes)	y-o-y growth (%)	m-o-m growth (%)	Export (tonnes)	y-o-y growth (%)	m-o-m growth (%)
Naphtha	213,980	-9%	24%	30,436	-15%	-40%
Ethylene	101,992	36%	28%	3,546	-46%	-
Propylene	172,163	111%	20%	0	-100%	-100%
Butadiene	11,393	50%	30%	7,416	16%	-17%
HDPE	266,591	-13%	-15%	7,981	175%	-28%
LDPE	122,827	34%	-26%	4,861	-60%	-23%
LLDPE	210,272	-6%	-13%	3,258	107%	4%
PP	275,692	-10%	-12%	9,593	33%	-40%
PVC	109,644	-23%	-5%	14,026	-38%	-6%
EPS	6,704	6%	-9%	23,306	-33%	-3%
Benzene	3,941	-73%	-56%	2,868	-59%	-68%
Toluene	32,818	-58%	-32%	150	-2%	-96%
MX	30	900%	-46%	86	1620%	41%
PX	413,610	27%	-21%	29,174	98%	18%
SM	320,005	1%	0%	30	14900%	-99%
PTA	395,831	-19%	-23%	0	-	-
MEG	558,070	3%	-20%	235	-28%	-21%
CAN	43,853	12%	-14%	0	-	-
Caprolactam	48,666	-7%	-17%	0	-100%	-100%
Phenol	68,057	7%	1%	223	-90%	99%
Methanol	536,973	11%	41%	569	89%	-89%
Acetone	66,640	-6%	0%	55	-21%	-4%
BPA	51,658	26%	-16%	503	-39%	26%
IPA	13,763	130%	36%	15	-82%	-82%
MEK	2,500	19%	787%	4,238	31%	-4%
Base oil	128,096	-3%	7%	11,020	25%	-7%
MMA	8,821	25%	-37%	2,937	-59%	-21%
PMMA	14,416	-27%	-9%	547	-44%	-60%
GAA	4,114	-39%	-46%	3,713	-2%	6%
Butyl-A	3,526	113%	-51%	556	-85%	-70%
2EHA	1,976	28%	61%	164	-79%	-2%
2-EH	36,691	-7%	18%	222	-24%	10%
NBA	31,200	-33%	-10%	35	3%	-39%
PA	7,746	-59%	15%	60	9%	-78%
DOP	2,901	-76%	-12%	1,287	-11%	96%
Polysilicon	4,566	8%	-30%	77	-54%	-11%

Source: China Customs

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