Japan man-made fibre output drops 5.2% in March

22 April 2008 10:59  [Source: ICIS news]

TOKYO (ICIS news)--Japan’s man-made fibre production in March fell 5.2% to 96,777 tonnes compared with the same month in 2006 partly due to the declining acrylic fibre market in China, a spokesman from a local industry association said on Tuesday.

Of the man-made fibres’ total, 82,113 tonnes were synthetic fibres, down 7.3% year on year, the spokesman from Japan Chemical Fibers Association said.

Among the synthetic fibres, the production of acrylic staple fibre in March decreased 30.2% to 14,865 tonnes from the same time the year before.

This was because of the sluggish condition of the acrylic fibre market in China, the spokesman said, adding the price of acrylic staple increased due to the high cost of its feedstock acrylonitrile.

Almost a half of Japan’s acrylic staple is exported to China, according to the spokesman said.

The spokesman also said there was a shift from acrylic fibres to polyester fibres in the country, noting that the production of polyester staple was recovering on a month-on-month basis.

Polyester staple production in March increased 13.2% to 17,311 tonnes from 15,295 tonnes month on month, according to the association, but dropped 0.5%  year on year.

Meanwhile, Japan’s March output of nylon filament declined 4.3% to 9,656 tonnes year on year, the association said.

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Author: Tomomi Yokomura
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