S Korea’s June olefins market hit by price crash

19 July 2007 08:11  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--The overall South Korean olefins import and export figures fell for the month of June, compared to May, largely due to a crash in the Asian olefins price, statistics from the country’s industry body showed.

 

Exports of ethylene (C2) fell by 3,343 tonnes to 54,684 tonnes during the period,  while imports dropped sharply by 15,809 tonnes to 4,021 tonnes. Propylene (C3) exports and imports also decreased by 14,920 tonnes and 4,070 tonnes respectively, said the Korea International Trade Association late on Wednesday.

 

This was largely attributable to the start-up of Asia’s largest cracker in Mailiao, Taiwan, which has an annual ethylene capacity of 1.2m tonnes and propylene capacity of 600,000 tonnes.

 

The coming online of the cracker on 25 May sent ethylene prices crashing by $110/tonne to $1,015/tonne CFR (cost and freight) NE Asia (northeast Asia) and propylene prices by $100/tonne to $990/tonne CFR NE Asia by the end of June, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

 

A similar trend was also observed in aromatics, which recorded lower import and export figures for June, compared to the same period a month ago, the association said.

 

Benzene exports decreased by 38,422 tonnes and imports by 2,903 tonnes. For toluene, exports also dropped by 24,095 tonnes and imports by 28,736 tonnes. Mixed xylene exports were similarly down by 16,065 tonnes and styrene imports by 28,635 tonnes for June.

 

Paraxylene (PX) exports were also affected massive shutdowns of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) plants in Asia between end-May and June, as PTA slashed operating rates amid losses hit as much as $70-80/tonne for some small-to-medium sized PTA makers.

 

On a brighter note, polymer imports and exports were largely stable in June from May 2007, said the association.

 

Noticeable exports were recorded for ammonium sulphate, which rose by 21,884 tonnes, while ammonia imports plunged by 37,157 tonnes from May.

 

Acrylonitrile imports and exports were healthy, up 2,375 tonnes and 4,156 tonnes respectively in June from May.

 

Exports in South Korea’s petrochemicals sector in the first half of 2007 were up 21.7% to $13.7bn from a year ago and double-digit growth was expected to continue into the second half despite currency depreciation, its Commerce, Industry and Energy Ministry said in a recent report.

 

Olefins
Product	June	Import (tonnes)	Export (tonnes)
Ethylene	2007	4,021	54,684
	2006	9,033	19,725
Propylene	2007	18,546	26,651
	2006	25,735	26,911
Polymers
Product	June	Import (tonnes)	Export (tonnes)
PP	2007	1,032	80,397
	2006	1,052	103,957
PVC	2007	1,803	36,101
	2006	6,319	49,779
PS	2007	2,020	17,445
	2006	2,193	13,869
ABS copolymers	2007	481	106,553
	2006	526	97,746
PC	2007	8,739	14,843
	2006	8,107	13,531
SAN copolymers	2007	1,054	9,794
	2006	894	8,476
Aromatics
Product	June	Import (tonnes)	Export (tonnes)
Benzene	2007	11,966	96,715
	2006	45,216	136,788
Toluene	2007	16,881	56,024
	2006	12,896	45,162
MX isomers	2007	0	76,655
	2006	0	21,469
PX	2007	45,535	112,450
	2006	62,094	67,548
Others
Product	June	Import (tonnes)	Export (tonnes)
Styrene	2007	43,773	88,434
	2006	51,982	105,553
PET	2007	1,103	71,404
	2006	1,050	71,082
ACN	2007	12,875	18,285
	2006	12,169	19,750
Ammonium Sulphate	2007	0	53,900
	2006	8	25,235
PMMA	2007	3,062	5,067
	2006	1,802	6,280
Acetone	2007	16	14,032
	2006	0	16,604
PA	2007	1	15,494
	2006	76	13,697
EVA copolymers	2007	670	14,204
	2006	899	15,467
Butadiene rubber (BR)	2007	555	17,642
	2006	1,107	13,357
Ammonia	2007	75,020	4,210
	2006	110,200	4,217
Urea	2007	79,420	26
	2006	94,206	27
Ethyl Acetate	2007	3,837	3,466
	2006	4,096	4,726
Acetic acid	2007	5,536	12,583
	2006	6,685	11,960
Propylene Glycol	2007	695	3,785
	2006	736	2,073
Methanol	2007	120,144	29
	2006	126,346	1,077
Ethylene dichloride	2007	37,096	8,866
	2006	43,942	9,943

Source: Korea International Trade Association

 

Salmon Aidan Lee contributed to this story.

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Author: Gina Myung
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