German petrochemical producers increase Jan oil product input by 7.6% yoy

29-Mar-11

The German petrochemical industry increased its oil product consumption in January by 7.6% year-on-year and 6% month-on-month to 2.11 mln mt, boosting the input of naphtha in particular, as per an analysis of data by the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control shows, as per Platts. Naphtha volumes used in petrochemical processes, including returns from the petrochemical industry, jumped 16.5% year-on-year and 18.8% on-month to 1.63 million mt, increasing its share in the feedstock mix to 77.4%, up 5.9 percentage points from a year earlier and up 8.3 points from December. Naphtha imports were 26.4% higher than a month earlier at 787,129 mt, according to the official data released Friday. The input of heavy fuel oil, which is largely used as cracker feedstock and partly for energy generation, shrunk 25.6% year-on-year and 36.4% on-month to 256,773 mt, decreasing its share in overall petrochemical consumption to 12.2% from 20.3% in the preceding month and 17.6% a year earlier. The use of liquefied petroleum gas was 8.3% lower than in the prior year at 84,804 mt but rebounded 9.3% from December, when a cold snap in parts of Europe had boosted demand for heating fuels. LPG accounted for 4% of petrochemical fuel consumption, a touch higher than in December and 0.7 points lower year-on-year.