China PE Imports to Keep Falling in Jan
According to GACC, China’s total import volume in December 2022 was 1,292.28kt, down 13.79% M-O-M while up 0.44% Y-O-Y. The total import volume from in 2022 was 13,465.76kt, down 7.68% Y-O-Y. The import volume decreased notably in December compared with that in November. This was mainly because arrivals of imported PE resources declined in December M-O-M while inched up Y-O-Y.
In December, China’s PE imports from Saudi Arabia, a certain country in the Middle East, UAE, the U.S., South Korea, Qatar and Kuwait decreased, especially from Saudi Arabia, a certain country in the Middle East, UAE and the U.S. Those from Singapore and Thailand increased. The PE imports from Saudi Arabia were 218.6kt in December, down 97.7kt or 30.89% M-O-M. Those from a certain country in the Middle East were 127.7kt, down 15.8kt or 11.01% M-O-M. Those from UAE were 176.3kt, down 11.9kt or 6.32% M-O-M. Those from Thailand were 55kt, up 6.1kt or 12.47% M-O-M.
As for the trade mode, China mainly imported PE via general trade, processing trade with imported materials and stored goods in bonded warehouses. Therein, the import volume via general trade was 943.1kt in December, down 11.92% M-O-M, taking up 86% of the total. That via processing trade with imported materials and stored goods in bonded warehouses was 85.1kt and 4.83kt, taking up 8% and 4% respectively.
In December, the imports from Saudi Arabia, UAE, a certain country in the Middle East and the U.S. declined. Meanwhile, China’s PE market price was at a low level, and sea transportation was limited affected by the cold wave. Therefore, PE resources from the Middle East and the U.S. declined notably, dragging down those in February to some extent. In addition, Shandong Dongming Petrochemical Group, PetroChina Guangdong Petrochemical and Sinopec Hainan Refining and Chemical will put their newly added units into production in February, and their products will come into the market soon afterwards. As for the demand, downstream enterprises gradually resume production in February, giving certain support to the market sentiment, while the demand recovery may be under expectation. As for the imports, it’s estimated that the import volume will continue the downtrend in January M-O-M, hovering at 1,050kt.
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