China's April polymer imports down 20.4% from March

China’s April polymer imports down 20.4% from March

28-May-11

According to data from Chinese customs, China’s polymer imports declined by 20.4% in April when compared with March, while the figure for April 2011 was also 12.9% lower than for the same month in 2010, as per ChemOrbis. Softening demand in the Chinese market as the government’s ongoing efforts to tighten monetary policy along with impending electricity rationing in the summer were cited as some of the main reasons for the drop in polymer imports. China’s imports of HDPE fell 25.5% over the past month to reach 266,000 tons, while the country’s LLDPE imports were down 22.1% to 183,000 tons and the country’s LDPE imports fell 13.7% to reach 107,000 tons. When compared with April 2010, HDPE imports were down 6.3%, LLDPE imports were down 11.1% and LDPE imports were down 20.7%. South Korea was the largest HDPE exporter to China in April with 51,672 tons of exports while Saudi Arabia led all LLDPE exporters with 51,592 tons in April. Iran was the top LDPE exporter to China in April with 28,919 tons of exports. Homo-PP imports to China were down 25.1% from March at 254,000 tons, while the April 2011 import figures were 19.9% lower than the April 2010 numbers. In accordance with market reports of relatively slower demand for PP copolymer when compared with homo-PP, PP copolymer imports posted a larger drop of 29.3% in April to reach 58,000 tons. The largest exporters of homo-PP to China in April were South Korea (64,297 tons), Saudi Arabia (47,739 tons), Taiwan (34,805 tons), Japan (19,105 tons) and the United States (16,430 tons). China’s imports of PVC were down 22.6% from March at 82,000 tons in April, although the April 2011 figure was 2.5% higher when compared with the same period of last year. The largest exporters of PVC to China in April 2011 were Taiwan (26,250 tons), the United States (25,199 tons) and Japan (23,002 tons), with these three countries combined supplying slightly more than 90% of China’s PVC imports for April. In contrast to other polymer products, PS imports to China were up slightly in April, with April imports rising 1.2% from March to reach 82,000 tons. When compared with April 2010, PS imports were down 15.5% in April 2011. The top PS exporters to China in April were Taiwan (26,238 tons), Hong Kong (20,784 tons), South Korea (16,426 tons), Singapore (5,736 tons) and Thailand (3,170 tons).