Turkey's June polymer imports the highest ever for the month

Based on the data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK), Turkey’s plastics imports slipped in June from May, falling for the third consecutive month since this March, as per ChemOrbis. Turkey’s June polymer imports were the highest ever for the month since 2000. Of the total June imports to Turkey, 232,000 tons were for non-dutiable origins while 116,000 tons were for dutiable origins. The top three exporters to Turkey were Saudi Arabia with 62,861 tons, Iran with 26,640 tons and Belgium with 21,217 tons. Iran and Belgium raised their export volumes from May to June, while Saudi Arabia exported reduced quantities on a monthly basis. Apart from these countries, imports from Qatar, Singapore, Thailand, Italy, Egypt, Germany, China, Israel and South Korea rose from May to June, with the largest jump seen for South Korean origin, which accounted for almost 20,000 tons, becoming the fourth largest exporter in June. The USA, Romania, Poland, Pakistan, Norway, Libya, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Mexico and the UK, on the other hand, reduced their exports to Turkey in June, with Turkey importing half of what it imported from Mexico and one third of what it imported from the UK in comparison with May. Turkey’s homo PP imports have shown a steady increase starting from April 2011, although they couldn’t breech the highest level in March. Turkey imported 90,000 tons of homo PP in June 2011, with the main supply source Saudi Arabia having the largest share with 32,516 tons. India and Egypt were the closest followers with 10,670 tons and 8,062 tons, respectively. Meanwhile, Turkey imported 2,500 tons of Turkmen PP in June for the first time in 2011. Czech PP also showed up in June after 4-months of absence, with Turkey importing 1,097 tons from this country. The total PVC imports in June were down from May at 47,000 tons. PVC imports were dominated by the USA with imports from the country rising from May to June to 11,555 tons. PVC imports from China shot up from 495 tons to 6,190 tons on a monthly basis, with China becoming the second larger PVC exporter in June. Although PVC imports from Mexico were down noticeably to 4,200 tons, the country was the closest follower. Libyan and Malaysian PVC was also seen in June for the first time this year. In a monthly comparison, Turkey’s LDPE imports in June were up slightly at 13,000 tons, HDPE imports were down slightly at 49,000 tons and LLDPE imports were up at 30,000 tons. Going back to the year 2000, the country’s HDPE and LLDPE imports were the highest for the month. Iran was the largest exporter with 2,472 tons, with other followers being Israel and Spain, both exporting below 2,000 tons. Iran and Saudi Arabia were the largest exporters with imports from these countries nearing 12,000 tons, with the rest of the other countries exporting no more than 5,000 tons. In the LLDPE market, the largest exporter was Saudi Arabia with 15,085 tons while other regular exporters stayed below 4,000 tons. In the PS market, where 25,000 tons of material was imported in June 2011, with a monthly increase, Belgian PS left all other competitors behind, with no other origin even coming close to the 9,028 tons imported from this country. In June 2011, Turkey imported PS from Croatia, Hong Kong and Malaysia for the first time this year.