China's polyethylene (PE) imports dropped by 31.6pc on the year to 1.126mn t in May, the lowest since July 2018 with the exception of February 2021 during the lunar new year holiday, data from China's customs show.
The May import data mainly reflect deals concluded during March-April, when overseas supplies were tightened by disruptions caused by February's severe winter storm in the US. Major overseas producers in South Korea and the Middle East sold most of their cargoes during March-April to Latin America, Europe, and southeast and south Asia for higher netbacks as Chinese prices remained the lowest globally since late February.
Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) imports fell by 15.4pc on the year to 221,500t, while high-density polyethylene (HDPE) imports dropped by 31.9pc from a year earlier to 545,700t, the data show. The largest drop was in linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) imports to 358,700t, 38.6pc lower from May 2020.
New production capacities coming on line in China have also reduced the country's import dependence to 42pc so far this year from 48pc in 2020.
China is expected to bring on line 5.45mn t/yr of new capacities this year, with almost half of these to be started up during June-July.
Lianyungang Petrochemical, a subsidiary of Chinese private-sector firm Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical, and Huatai Shengfu started up their new 400,000 t/yr HDPE and 400,000 t/yr LLDPE/HDPE plants respectively in late May. Lanzhou Changqing's 400,000 t/yr HDPE and 400,000 t/yr HDPE/LLDPE units are scheduled to be operational in June. Zhejiang Petrochemical's 450,000 t/yr HDPE/LLDPE and 350,000 t/yr HDPE units are expected to come on line in July. Shandong Luqing in north China plans to start up its 400,000 t/yr LLDPE plant in July. Sinopec SK Wuhan in central China is looking to start up a new 300,000 t/yr HDPE unit in August.
China's PE exports surged to a historic high of 77,500t in May. Its year-to-date PE exports reached 238,100t, an increase of 114pc from the same period last year.
