China’s Oct polymer imports fell 11.4% on year

According to data from Chinese Customs, the country’s total polymer imports retreated by around 11.4% on a yearly basis to reach 1,280,077 tons in October. Imports fell by 11.7% when compared to the previous month.

The top five polymer exporters to China in October were South Korea (190,679 tons), Saudi Arabia (161,927 tons), Taiwan (160,150 tons), the United Arab Emirates (135,962 tons) and Iran (120,085 tons).

In October, China’s LDPE imports declined 24.5% when compared to the same month of 2015 to be reported at 144,679 tons while they were down by around 2.3% compared with September. Iran was the top LDPE supplier to China with 27,794 tons, followed by Qatar (18,138 tons).

HDPE imports decreased by 18.2% from a year earlier to reach 367,043 tons in October while they also declined by around 23.3% when compared with the previous month. Iran maintained its place at the top with 86,296 tons, followed by Saudi Arabia (58,909 tons), the United Arab Emirates (58,305 tons) and South Korea (43,446 tons).

The country’s LLDPE imports decreased around 18.5% on a yearly basis to reach 185,336 tons in October while they were down by around 16.5% when compared to September. Singapore was the top supplier to China with 46,772 tons, followed by Saudi Arabia (33,594 tons) and the United Arab Emirates (21,275 tons).

Imports for homo-PP fell 6.3% on the year to reach 247,226 tons in October. South Korea remained at the top of the homo-PP import list with 61,778 tons, followed by Saudi Arabia (41,387 tons) and Singapore (29,881 tons). On a monthly basis, China’s homo-PP imports also dropped by around 3.6% in October.

PP copolymer imports rose around 12% year over year to reach 118,848 tons in October while they fell by around 7% from a month earlier. Singapore was the top exporter to China with 28,016 tons, followed by Taiwan (22,493 tons) and the United Arab Emirates (19,472 tons).

China’s October PVC imports rose by around 16.8% when compared to the same month of 2015 to be reported at 55,446 tons. On a monthly basis, imports also rose by 23.7%. The top PVC exporter to China in October was the United States (24,567 tons), followed by Taiwan (14,225 tons) and Japan (11,737 tons).

Imports for PS retreated by around 19.6% on a year over year basis to reach 33,499 tons in October. When compared to September data, they were also down by 10.4%. Taiwan was the top PS exporter to China with 14,302 tons.

For ABS, the country’s October imports posted a yearly increase of 6.8% while they were up down by around 4.8% from a month earlier. Taiwan was at the top of the ABS import list with 67,803 tons, followed by South Korea (35,903 tons).