Japan's Imports of Naphtha,Grew by 5.3 Percent Month-on-Month in October

Japan’s imports of naphtha, a key raw material for production of ethylene used in the textile industry, grew by 5.3 percent month-on-month in October to 1.183 million tons, according to the figures released by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
 
Spurred by naphtha imports, Japan’s ethylene production increased by 1.5 percent month-on-month in October.
 
The rise in ethylene output was also due to the completion of maintenance at some of the naphtha-fed steam crackers in the country.
 
Fibre2fashion had earlier reported that a naphtha cracker owned by JX Nippon Oil & Energy, located in Kawasaki, restarted on October 11 after nearly two months of maintenance shutdown. The cracker has capacity to produce 450,000 tons per year of ethylene.
 
Similarly, Idemitsu Kosan’s ethylene plant with a production capacity of 623,000 tons per annum started functioning last month after its scheduled maintenance since September 4, 2012.