Why is the import of propylene highly dependent? The import volume has declined?

Time flies, and in a blink of an eye, 2017 has passed halfway
.
In the past six months, our imported propylene market has experienced the glory of the beginning of the year and has also gone through a trough
.
However, since February 2017, my country's propylene imports have continued to decline.
So what is causing this? Let's take a look together
.
Introduction to the import market: Although China's propylene market has rapidly developed new production capacity in recent years, the propylene market is still in short supply, and imported propylene happens to supplement the demand gap in the domestic propylene market
.
From the perspective of importing regions, China's propylene imports mainly come from the three regions of South Korea, Japan and Taiwan
.
South Korea has always been the country with the largest import volume in China
.
In April this year, China imported about 110,000 tons of propylene from South Korea, accounting for 51.
9% of the total imports in April, while Japan and Taiwan accounted for about 40% of the total imports in April
.
It can be seen that the changes in the propylene market in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan also have a crucial impact on China's propylene market
.
From the perspective of import customs, the two customs with the largest import volume in China are none other than Nanjing and Ningbo customs
.
In April, these two customs' imports accounted for about 53% of all imports
.
These two customs are located in East China.
We can also understand that East China is the region with the largest propylene import volume in China, and the dependence on imported propylene is the highest
.
So we can't help asking, why is the import dependence high, but the import volume has dropped? In January 2017, China's propylene imports were about 318,600 tons.
This amount is very impressive.
It can also be seen that the propylene market in 2017 is very optimistic, whether at home or abroad
.
But by April, the import volume of propylene fell to 217,800 tons, which was about 100,000 tons less than in January
.
There are many reasons for the decline in imports
.
From the perspective of the supplier country, after the year, several sets of propylene installations in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan will be overhauled, and SK in Korea and JXTG in Japan are all companies with a relatively large export share.
They will have maintenance plans after the year.
Northeast Asia The supply of propylene has decreased; after the year, downstream demand in Japan, South Korea and other places will be strong, the local capacity for digestion of propylene will increase, and the export volume of overseas factories will decrease
.
From the perspective of demand countries, in February 2017, the external propylene market price hung high and the upside-down was serious, which far exceeded the buying capacity of domestic downstream factories
.
Years later, the downstream polypropylene market was operating weakly, failing to meet the previous market expectations.
In mid-May this year, the downstream polypropylene powder was at a loss for a while, and many powder factories reduced their burdens and reduced their production.
For the purchase of imported propylene Enthusiasm plummeted
.
Under this circumstance, imported propylene is no longer favored by domestic downstream factories, thus reducing the import of propylene and purchasing more from surrounding areas
.
Will the propylene imports in May continue to decrease? From January to April, the domestic propylene market tended to be weak, and downstream powder plants generally operated at a low rate, and the demand for propylene procurement decreased significantly
.
However, in late May, the domestic propylene market improved slightly
.
After the news of the maintenance of the PDH factory in East China Haiyue was released, the news of the shortage of goods in the East China market immediately spread to all corners of the propylene industry, causing a boom in propylene prices for a while
.
Although the propylene market in Shandong is still weak, the market mentality is good
.
Imported propylene has risen for a while, and offers have soared
.
However, it still exceeds the purchasing capacity of domestic downstream factories, and the maintenance of propylene devices in Japan, South Korea and other places continues, and the supply of propylene is still tight.
On the whole, the import volume of propylene in May is still not very large, and is expected to be around 210,000 tons
.