Stats: China’s H1 2024 PP exports near 2023’s total volume; imports at 16-year low

Data from ChemOrbis Stats Wizard reveal opposing scenarios for China’s PP imports and exports in the first half of 2024. Although monthly data show a steady decline, the H1 export volume expanded on a yearly basis to its highest figure since ChemOrbis began collecting data in 2002. In contrast, the country’s imports experienced further contraction, reaching their 16-year low.

Exports reach record highs, defying shipping issues

Over the past few months, one of the hottest topics in the polymer markets has been shipping chaos, including sky-high freight rates, Asian port congestion, and a lack of container capacity. Despite these challenges and lingering weak demand, which have significantly hindered export activities from China, exports still set new records in the first half of the year.

The cumulative PP exports in H1 of 2024 surged by 88% when compared to the same period last year to be reported at more than 1.2 million tons. Notably, the figure is almost equal to the total export volume in the whole of 2023, which stood at around 1.3 million tons. Now that Chinese exporters have another half of the year to divert PP shipments out of the country, breaking a yearly record seems just a time matter.

Vietnam remains top destination with nearly twofold increase

According to ChemOrbis data, the majority of H1’s PP exports (39.8%) found homes in Southeast Asian countries. Vietnam alone accounted for 17.1% of a market share, preserving its first ranking in China’s PP export leaderboard. This was no surprise considering the competitive edge Chinese PP grades offered in nearby Vietnam.

Vietnam was followed by Indonesia (9.4%) and Brazil (6.4%). Thailand and Bangladesh took fourth place with the same share of 6.2%.

In the meantime, the total PP export quantity to Vietnam during the first six months of the year soared by 96% in comparison with H1 of 2023.

Worst H1 import performance since 2008

Data reveal that China’s cumulative PP imports in the January-June period of 2024 indicated the worst H1 performance since H2 of 2008. China imported a total of slightly more than 1.7 million tons of PP polymers during the past six months, indicating a yearly decrease of around 12.7%.

South Korea remained China’s top PP supplier with a market share of 20.1%, followed by Singapore (17.3%) and the United Arab Emirates (13.6%).

Exports of PPH almost equal to imports

In a product-based breakdown, homo-PP imports in the first six months of 2024 decreased by more than 16% year over year to 1,153,320 tons. The import figure was closely chased by homo-PP exports, which stood at 1,145,610 tons during the same period.

H1’s PP copolymer imports were also down by roughly 5% on the year, at around 635,160 tons. The total imports of PP copolymer in H1 far outweighed the export volume of 115,180 tons.

Fading interest in imports plays a key role

Along with external factors like global shipping turmoil, which have crimped China’s export activities and import flow at the same time, reducing the willingness to purchase imported PP polymers also came to the fore. “Buyers prefer to source materials in the domestic markets rather than buying imported cargoes since local prices are much lower,” said a trader.

Domestic materials’ competitive prices and acceptable quality, which have been considered almost the same as imports, have dimmed the buying appetite for import supply. Data obtained from ChemOrbis Price Index suggest that local prices of homo-PP raffia and inj. have traded below imports since early March.

Meanwhile, given the country’s upcoming massive capacity additions, imports may have room for further reduction. According to ChemOrbis Production News Pro, China added a total of around 2.6 million tons/year of PP capacities in H1 of 2024. An additional 5.15 million tons/year of PP capacity is expected to come into production in the remaining part of the year.