China's Total Polymer Imports Reached The Highest Level of 2011 in August

China’s total polymer imports reached the highest level of 2011 in August. According to the recent data released by the Chinese Customs Agency, China imported 1.51 tons of plastics in August 2011, with the country’s overall imports reaching a new high over the first eight months of 2011. On a year over year basis, total plastics imports in August were also the highest figure seen for the month going back to 2001. Apart from the main exporters including South Korea (279,855 tons), Saudi Arabia (214,537 tons) and Taiwan (205,300 tons), Thailand (113,505 tons), Iran (91,514 tons) and United Arab Emirates (90,850 tons) were the largest three exporters to China in August 2011, with Iran doubling its exports from July to August as per the plastics pricing service ChemOrbis. Brazil was another country, which raised its total polymer exports to China from July to August, exporting 22,784 tons in August instead of 4,709 tons in July. Homo-PP imports, which have been tracking an upward direction since May, moved higher month over month in August to reach 351,000 tons. Although India’s homo PP exports to China were down significantly from July to August, India was the largest homo PP exporter in August with 28,939 tons. Japan (13,777 tons) and Brazil (5,132 tons) were the other followers. PVC imports, which had been flat over the months of June and July, turned up in August to reach 76,000 tons. When compared on a yearly basis, however, they were still below the August 2010 figure of 109,000 tons. The largest stake of PVC imports belong to Japan (26,509 tons), Taiwan (20,371 tons) and the US (18,333 tons), with all of these countries raising their PVC exports to China on a monthly basis. LDPE imports jumped month over month to 169,000 tons, the highest figure being recorded over the first eight months of 2011. HDPE and LLDPE imports were also up from July to August to 320,000 tons and 274,000 tons respectively. Iran (34,015 tons) was the largest LDPE exporter to China in August while South Korea (55,192 tons) left all other competitors behind for HDPE. As for LLDPE, Saudi Arabia (72,087 tons) exported the largest amount to China for the month. China imported 93,000 tons of PS in August, reaching the highest level of the first eight months of 2011. When compared on a yearly basis, however, the August 2011 figure was still below the level in August 2010 when the country had imported 100,000 tons of PS. Taiwan (32,423 tons) was the largest exporter while South Korea (19,928 tons) and Hong Kong (19,130 tons) were the closest followers. Source: plasticsinfomart.com