Stats: S. Korea's PP exports surge in H1 2024 despite global shipping challenges

Data from ChemOrbis Stats Wizard revealed that South Korea’s overall PP exports in the first half of 2024 increased by 17% year-on-year, reaching around 1.7 million tons. During the same period, sales to Vietnam surged by 41%, and total exports to the European Union hit a fresh record high despite global shipping turmoil and sky-high freight costs.

China remains main export destination

Statistics show that South Korea’s main export PP destination was still China, constituting 19% of overall exports in the first half of the year. Overall PP exports to China were 2.4% higher than a year earlier, reaching 333,000 tons in H1. However, this also represents a significant drop of 31% from 2022 levels.

China’s PP imports in the January-June period of 2024 indicated the worst H1 performance since H2 of 2008. The willingness to purchase imported PP polymers has decreased due to global shipping turmoil impacting export and import activities, along with competitive prices and acceptable quality of domestic materials. Additionally, the country’s upcoming massive capacity additions may further reduce import demand. Accordingly, South Korea is likely to face decreasing export volumes to China in the coming years.

Exports to Vietnam surge on year; Turkey ranks third top buyer

Data suggest that South Korea exported around 215,000 tons of PP to Vietnam in the January-June period this year. This was notably up 41% from a year earlier, with Vietnam constituting 12% of the country’s total H1 exports. In 2023, Korea’s total PP sales to Vietnam were 383,000 tons.

During the same period last year, Turkey was South Korea’s second top PP export destination after China, with around 174,000 tons. This year, Turkey dropped to third place with a total volume of 171,000 tons and a 10% share of the overall export volume.

Sales to EU hit a record despite shipping obstacles

South Korea’s PP exports to the European Union continued to increase during the first half despite the shipping turmoil and high freight costs that prevailed during most of the period. According to data, the total export volume to the region reached 255,000 tons in the first half, up about 21% from a year earlier, suggesting the largest H1 volume since ChemOrbis began keeping records in 2000.

2024 H2 and beyond: China to become the real challenge

Analysts and indicators suggest that South Korea will continue to lose market share in China, where massive capacity additions have already begun to reduce demand for imported PP. Consequently, Korean producers will need to either find new markets for their PP production or further cut output rates, and the restructuring will gain speed.

The real challenge, however, lies in the rising competition among key export outlets, as China ramps up its own exports in line with its significantly growing domestic capacity. Statistics show that China’s cumulative PP exports in the first half of this year surged by 88% year-on-year to more than 1.2 million tons, nearly matching the total export volume for the whole of 2023, which stood at around 1.3 million tons.

For instance, in Vietnam, PP exports from China and South Korea were nearly identical in the January-June period, with China exporting 216,000 tons and South Korea exporting 215,000 tons.

In the near future, China is expected to challenge the world’s top PP sellers, including South Korea, even more aggressively.