China's petrochemicals trade increased by 33.8% in 2010

14-Feb-11

The total value of China's petrochemicals trade rose 33.8% year on year (yoy) to US$60.5 bln in 2010, according to statistics released by the National Development and Reform Commission, as per Platts. China's main petrochemical imports, which include ethylene, benzene, methanol and acetic acid, rose 34.2% to US$35.6 bln, while exports grew 33.4% yoy to US$24.9 bln. In terms of production, China's ethylene output rose 31.7% yoy to 14.19 mln mt, benzene production gained 18.7% to 5.53 mln mt, methanol production rose 26.2% to 15.74 mln mt and acetic acid climbed 29.3% to 38.39 mln mt. In accordance with the country's eleventh five-year plan (2006-2010), the startup of Sinopec Sabic Tianjin and Sinopec Zhenhai's petrochemical complexes raised China's olefin and polyolefin production levels substantially, lifting the mainland's exports and contributing to a rise in foreign trade. In line with China's raised olefin capacities, synthetic resin output levels also increased 18.3% to 43.61 mln mt in 2010. Polyethylene production rose 28.6% yoy to 9.86 mln mt, polypropylene production climbed 13.5% to 9.17 mln mt and PVC production gained 11.3% to 11.3 mln mt. The total value of China's synthetic resin trade rose 27.3% year on year to US$51.3 bln -- imports increased 26.3% to US$45.1 bln while exports surged 56% to US$6.2 bln.