China PE Import Volume Hits Yearly High in Aug
In August 2023, China’s PE import volume reached 1,216kt, up 17.46% M-O-M and 4.35% Y-O-Y. The import volume of HDPE, LLDPE, and LDPE was 453.9kt, 497.6kt and 264.4kt respectively, up 23.62%, 15.51% and 11.45% separately. As of August 2023, the monthly import volume reached over 1,200kt for the first time during the year.
In August 2023, China’s PE import volume reached 1,216kt, up 17.46% M-O-M and 4.35% Y-O-Y. The import volume of HDPE, LLDPE, and LDPE was 453.9kt, 497.6kt and 264.4kt respectively, up 23.62%, 15.51% and 11.45% separately. As of August 2023, the monthly import volume reached over 1,200kt for the first time during the year.
As for the import origins, the HDPE imported from Saudi Arabia, UAE and South Korea increased notably. With the newly added capacity put into production in China, Chinese-made HDPE film, raffia and injection are gradually replacing the imported resources, while some Chinese-made materials cannot meet the quality requirements limited by the production technology amid the product upgrading. Therefore, some high-end products and special-purposed materials still need to be partially imported. In H2 of June, affected by the sluggish demand, China’s PE import price trended down, granting more arbitrage opportunities to China. Accordingly, China’s traders showed improving buying appetites. In addition, with low production costs, Saudi Arabia and UAE enjoyed price advantages, so imported resources from these two origins improved notably by 46.70% and 23.99% respectively. Meanwhile, South Korea enjoyed low import duties from China and the demand was tepid in Europe and the U.S. amid the sluggish economy. Therefore, more resources flowed into China as it’s adjacent, and the HDPE import volume from South Korea increased by 31.87% M-O-M.
As of August 2023, the imported LLDPE resources from the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Singapore improved significantly. From Q2, 2O23, China’s PE import price kept falling, and offers for LLDPE from the U.S. were $870-900/mt (RMB 7,750-7,950/mt), so the price spread granted China more arbitrage opportunities, improving the buying appetites of China’s traders. Accordingly, the LLDPE resources imported from the U.S. rose notably by 28.47% M-O-M. Meanwhile, LLDPE imports from Singapore increased significantly by 31.34% in August due to free duty and location advantages.
On the whole, China’s PE import volume was beyond expectation in August, and the increment was mainly from HDPE and LLDPE. Affected by the global sluggish economy, more resources from Saudi Arabia, a certain country in the Middle East and the U.S. flowed into China’s market with rapid demand recovery. Therefore, China’s PE import volume increased notably in August.
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