News
28/11/24
Japan’s Oct naphtha imports fall on weak petchem demand
Tokyo, 28 November (Argus) — Japan's naphtha imports totalled 1.18mn t in
October, down by 10pc on the year but up by 5pc on the month, according to the
country's finance ministry. Naphtha imports were lower on the year, given the
continuous weakness in domestic petrochemical demand. This lowered cracker
operating rates, which have been weakening since July, by 5.2 percentage points
from a year earlier to 77.4pc in October, according to Japan Petrochemical
Industry Association (JPCA). Cracker operating rates below 90pc indicate
weakness in petrochemical consumption and the Japanese economy, JPCA said. The
rates have been below 90pc since August 2022. Against a backdrop of weaker
petrochemical consumption, ethylene production by domestic crackers in October
fell by 7.4pc on the year to 414,500t. On a year-on-year basis, polypropylene
and polyvinyl chloride output dropped by 5pc and by 12pc to 174,000t to
121,100t, respectively. Acrylonitrile output fell by 32pc to 21,300t, while
styrene-butadiene rubber production stood at 15,600t, down by 25pc on the year.
Aromatics xylene and benzene output fell by 2.6pc to 328,200t and by 1.5pc to
232,500t, respectively. By Nanami Oki Japan naphtha imports (t) Oct-24 Oct-23
Sep-24 y-o-y % ± m-o-m % ± Saudi Arabia 40,663 82,359 137,722 -70 -51 UAE
414,109 306,886 564,083 -27 35 Kuwait 205,941 284,441 109,249 89 -28 Qatar
148,927 147,786 195,703 -24 1 Bahrain 0 55,054 24,632 -100 -100 South Korea
179,544 92,986 89,023 102 93 Malaysia 0 0 0 - - India 38,742 0 8,516 355 - China
0 0 0 - - Indonesia 0 0 0 - - Singapore 0 0 0 - - Thailand 0 28,421 27,165 -100
-100 Russia 0 0 0 - - Australia 0 0 66,854 -100 - US 70,425 54,440 26,448 166 29
Others 79,178 69,289 60,090 32 14 Total 1,177,530 1,121,663 1,309,486 -10 5
Source: Finance ministry Send comments and request more information at
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