Jan-Feb PBR Imports Shrank, While Exports Expanded
Snapshot: From January to February, China’s PBR import volume continued to fall down, while the export volume surged Y-O-Y. The PBR imports and exports change and the main drivers behind the change will be analyzed as follows.
From January to February, China’s PBR import volume fell down, while the export volume surged Y-O-Y.
According to GACC, the PBR import volume in January 2023 was 10,678.44mt, down 41.56% M-O-M and down 37.34% Y-O-Y. The PBR import volume in February 2023 was 13,829.15mt, up 29.51% M-O-M and up 31.62% Y-O-Y. The total PBR import volume in January and February was 24,507.59mt, down 11.04% Y-O-Y. Based on the arrival time, from December 2022 to January 2023, the operating rate at China’s downstream tire enterprises hit a yearly low, and there were few workers on the job, resulting in dull end demand. Besides, China’s PBR price fell to around RMB 10,000/mt in December 2022, while the negotiation prices of imported resources were around $1,425/mt. Due to tepid demand and poor price advantages, import traders showed thin appetites for receiving goods. Therefore, the PBR import volume in January and February fell back somewhat.
As for the export, according to GACC, the PBR export volume was 12,667.32mt in January 2023, up 11.19% M-O-M and up 78.53% Y-O-Y. In February, the PBR export volume was 14,268.3mt, up 12.64% M-O-M and up 197.37% Y-O-Y. The total export volume in January and February was 26,935.62mt, up 126.47% Y-O-Y. In January and February, it was the Spring Festival holiday in China. As the overseas demand was better than China’s demand and the export arbitrage window opened, the PBR export volume from January to February moved up notably.
With limited structural change, South Korea returned to the top of China’s major import trading partners.
As seen from the import trading partners in January and February 2023, the import volume of PBR from South Korea, Russia and Japan ranked top three. Therein, South Korea was the top 1 import trading partner. The import volume of PBR from South Korea was around 7,687.06mt, down 3.09% Y-O-Y, which accounted for 31% of the total import volume. Russia ranked second. The import volume of PBR from Russia was around 4,836.42mt, up 726.99% Y-O-Y, which took up 20% of the total. Japan ranked third. The import volume of PBR from Japan was around 3,441.46mt, down 24.14% Y-O-Y, which took up 14% of the total. As the import volume of PBR from Russia declined by 75.88% M-O-M, South Korea returned to the top of China’s major PBR import trading partners.
As seen from the export trading partners in January and February 2023, Thailand ranked first. The total export volume of PBR to Thailand in January and February was7,539.15mt, up 40.76% Y-O-Y, which accounted for 28% of the total. Vietnam ranked second. The total export volume of PBR to Vietnam in January and February was 6,829.27mt, up 34.09% Y-O-Y. South Korea ranked third. The total export volume of PBR to South Korea was 2,285.4mt, up 2620.71% Y-O-Y. Driven by overseas demand, China’s PBR export volume saw a significant increment.
In March and April, the newly added unit at Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical is expected to go into production, and the units shut before at Zhejiang Transfar Synthetic Materials and Shandong Wintter Chemical may be restarted, leading to a rise in China’s PBR supply. Yet, as the demand may be insufficient, it is projected that China’s PBR import volume may still stay relatively low and fall down Y-O-Y in March and April. As for the export, China’s PBR export volume is likely to remain high driven by China’s expected increment in supply and rising overseas demand.
All information provided by SCI is for reference only, which shall not be reproduced without permission.
Please click "Read more" for the full article.
