ABS Import Volume Hit Yearly High in Nov 2017

China’s ABS prices moved up in November, driving by the increases in the styrene prices, the favorable replenishment demand, and the upward commodity market. The import volume of ABS in November reached the highest point in 2017. According to data, China imported 1,698.8kt of ABS in November, up 23.30% from October and up 9.37% Y-O-Y.

In November 2017, China imported 1,698.8kt of ABS, with the average import value of $2,017.49/mt. The accumulative import volume from January to November 2017 increased by 6.48% from the same period of last year.

In November, China imported the most of ABS via Kowloon Customs, with the number of 43.2kt, taking up 25% of the total import volume. China imported 34.9kt of ABS via Huangpu Customs, and the import volume took up 21% of the total. China imported 23.7kt of ABS via Shanghai Customs, and the import volume took up 14% of the total. The ABS imported via the top five customs (Kowloon, Huangpu, Shanghai, Ningbo and Guangzhou) took up 82% of the total, changing marginally from October.

In November, China imported 86.5kt of ABS from Taiwan Province, and the number took up 51% of the total. China imported 54.3kt and 8.2kt of ABS from South Korea and Malaysia respectively, and this number took up 32% and 5% respectively of the total. The top five exporters were Taiwan Province, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan and Thailand. The import volume from these five areas took up 93% of the total, changing marginally from October.

In November, about 88.6kt of ABS were imported by the trade mode of general trade, taking up 52% of the total import volume. About 64kt or 38% of the imported ABS were by the trade mode of processing trade with imported materials. About 8.3kt or 5% of the imported ABS were by the trade mode of processing and assembling trade provided with raw materials.