China's record-breaking imports slow down in August

According to data released by Chinese customs, the country's record-breaking import pace began to lose some steam in August, although the August import figures remain higher than any month in 2008. 

Data released by the Chinese Customs Office show that the country's furious import pace for 2009 began to abate in August, although the country's August import figures were still higher than any individual month in 2008. China imported a total of 1,470,145 tons of polymers in August 2009, a decrease of 11.1% when compared with the country's July figures and a drop of 13.1% from the record-setting figures reported for June of this year.  China's total imports for January-August 2009 stand at 11,779,195 tons, just 168,000 tons short of the figure set for 2008, with the Chinese market on pace to record more than 17 million tons of imports for 2009 if it maintains its current pace until the end of the year.

In the PVC market, August import figures showed a stark decline from the July levels, with the PVC imports losing ground at a more rapid pace than any other polymer for the month.  For the month of August, China imported a total of 87,214 tons of PVC, a sharp decrease of 63.5% when compared with the country's July import totals and an even steeper decline of 119.5% from the record import figure set in June of this year.  August was also the first month since November 2008 when China's PVC imports dipped below the 100,000 ton mark.  Japan was the largest PVC exporter to China in August, accounting for 32,939 tons, followed by the United States (19,674 tons), Taiwan (16,788 tons), Germany (3,779 tons) and Thailand (2,835 tons). While imports from Japan were mostly steady month-over-month, imports from the United States declined 64.6% on the month, while imports from Taiwan were down 32.5% and imports from Germany decreased by 69.3%.  South Korea, traditionally one of China's largest suppliers of PVC, exported only 1,240 tons in August, down 73% from July.

The slump in August imports also took its toll of China's imports of homo-PP, which had continued on a record-setting pace in July despite the slow down in imports of other polymers.  China imported 399,758 tons of homo-PP in August, a drop of 9.2% from the country's record-high import figure for July.  In spite of the month-over-month decline, China imported more homo-PP in August of 2009 than it did in any month of 2008, with the August numbers standing as the third-highest ever recorded in the country, trailing only the July and June figures of this year. South Korea was the largest exporter of homo-PP to the country for August at 88,206 tons, followed by the United States (65,417 tons), Taiwan (45,959 tons), Saudi Arabia (37,219 tons) and India (24,160 tons). Imports from South Korea declined 14% on the month, while imports from the US were down 19.3% and imports from Taiwan slacked off by 10.5%.  However, due to an increasing number of imports from new capacities in their respective countries, imports from India and Saudi Arabia marked increases during the month of August despite the overall declining import trend.  The largest gain was seen in imports from India, which rose 32.4% on the month and overtook Japan as the fifth-largest homo-PP exporter to China for the month.  Meanwhile, exports from Saudi Arabia marked an increase of 14% on a month-over-month basis.