China's March polymer imports up on monthly basis, down on yearly basis

China’s March polymer imports up on monthly basis, down on yearly basis

28-Apr-11

According to data released by the Chinese Customs Agency, China’s total polymer imports in March 2011 rose on a monthly basis but the country’s imports saw a drop from March 2010 to March 2011, as per Chemorbis. The country imported 1,486,000 tons of plastics in March 2011, which represents an increase of 443,000 tons when compared to February. The increase in March can be attributed to the fact that the country had imported less volume in February owing to week-long Chinese New Year holidays. Despite the monthly increase, China’s total polymer imports remained slightly below the figures reported for the same month of 2010. The largest stake of overall imports during March 2011 belonged to South Korea, with 269,812 tons which was followed by Saudi Arabia with 215,475 tons and by Taiwan with almost 203,000 tons. The US and Thailand were the other countries having the largest polymer exports to China, both exporting less than 100,000 tons. On a product by product basis, imports of homo-PP were up from February at 339,000 tons. The top three homo PP exporters to China in March were South Korea with 74,720 tons, Saudi Arabia with 66,910 tons and Taiwan with 39,161 tons. In the PVC market, China imported 106,000 tons of material in March 2011, posting a monthly increase. The main suppliers, namely the US and Japan, who have not been able to supply China’s PVC market recently due to the repercussions of the March 11 earthquake in Japan, were the largest two exporters in March, with Japan exporting 32,951 tons and the US exporting 32,174 tons. These two countries’ March exports to China were higher compared to the previous month. They were followed by Taiwan with total PVC imports of 24,654 tons. In the PE market, China imported 124,000 tons of LDPE, 357,000 tons of HDPE and 235,000 tons of LLDPE in March 2011 with the country’s PE imports rising sharply on a monthly basis for all products. For HDPE and LLDPE, the largest exporter was Saudi Arabia with 63,475 tons of HDPE and over 68,000 tons of LLDPE, whereas Iran was the largest exporter for LDPE with 26,671 tons. Looking at the PS market, China imported 81,000 tons of PS in March 2011. The top three PS exporters to China over this period were Taiwan with 27,329 tons, Hong Kong with more than 19,000 tons and South Korea with 17,645 tons.