Turkey’s 2016 polymer imports steady; record highs for PP, PE and ABS

Turkey’s overall polymer imports in 2016 were mostly steady from the record of 2015 at more than 4.4 million tons. Some polymers including homo PP, PE and ABS raised their market sizes and hit a record high in 2016 while PVC, PS and EPS imports contracted on the year, offsetting the gains in other polymers.

In the homo PP market, Turkey imported more than 1.5 million tons, which was up by 3% on the year and hit a record high. As for copolymers, imports grew only marginally by more than 1% year-over-year.

In the PE market, the overall imports of the three products moved above 1.29 million tons in 2016, implying a yearly increase of around 2% and an all-time-high. When looking by product, LDPE imports registered the largest yearly gain among other polymers as ChemOrbis Import Statistics reveal that more than 280,000 tons of LDPE imports showed a 6% increase on the year. This is marked as a record high as well.

The rise in imports for LLDPE was slight at 1%, indicating an all time high at around 360,000 tons. HDPE imports also posted a gain of more than 1% at more than 640,000 tons, although this was not a record.

Following suit, ABS imports also rose by 3% in 2016 on a yearly basis to more than 110,000 tons and reached a record high.

On the other hand, imports of other polymers witnessed losses in market sizes. Particularly PVC imports contracted by 13% on the year and saw their lowest levels since 2009 at around 630,000 tons.
PS and EPS imports fell as well by 5-6% on the year respectively to around 240,000 tons and 94,000 tons in 2016.

You can track and compare Turkey’s imports by country and by product on a monthly, yearly and cumulative basis.