2020 China Mixed Aromatics Import Volume Up 118.63% Y-O-Y
According to the statistics released by the General Administration of Customs, from January to December 2020, China’s total import volume of mixed aromatics was 6,179.1kt, up 118.63% Y-O-Y.
In 2019, supported by the capacity growth, the market share of China-origin reformed aromatics kept rising, suppressing the market share of imported mixed aromatics. Moreover, the quality of China-origin reformed aromatics was acceptable, and it shared a price advantage against imported mixed aromatics. In addition, due to environmental protection polices and the increasingly intensified competition, the sales at mixed aromatics importers underperformed. As a consequence, China’s import volume of mixed aromatics in 2019 was at a low level. From January to March 2020, influenced by the public health event, China’s mixed aromatics import volume stayed at a low level. However, after Saudi Arabia launched the crude oil price war, the international crude oil prices dropped dramatically, and with the aggravation of the global public health event, the mixed aromatics import cost declined significantly, supporting the mixed aromatics import arbitrage profits to perform well. Moreover, supported by the price floor mechanism set by the National Development and Reform Commission, the gasoline blending profits were at relatively high levels, and China’s demand for mixed aromatics recovered obviously. Accordingly, China’s import volume of mixed aromatics increased significantly. From August to December 2020, due to the high inventory of imported mixed aromatics in some regions and the weakening of downstream demand, China’s import volume of mixed aromatics decreased to some extent. Nonetheless, China’s overall import volume in 2020 still increased dramatically Y-O-Y.
According to the statistics released by the General Administration of Customs, in 2020, among the origins of China’s imported mixed aromatics, Singapore ranked the first place, and China’s import volume of mixed aromatics from Singapore was 2,062.6kt, accounting for 33.38% of the total and up 311.76% Y-O-Y. Malaysia ranked the second place, and China’s import volume of mixed aromatics from Malaysia was 1,472.4kt, accounting for 23.83% of the total and up 112.20% Y-O-Y. The Netherlands ranked the third place, and China’s import volume of mixed aromatics from the Netherlands was 675kt, accounting for 10.92% of the total and up 45.31% Y-O-Y.
