China's polyethylene (PE) imports have rebounded with the January-October intake down by 0.5pc against a fall of 3.7pc during this year's first half.
PE imports totalled 11.05mn t for January-October, down by 55,000t from a year earlier, GTT data show. Imports then increased significantly, particularly from August-October, averaging 1.23mn t/month compared with 1.05mn t/month in the first half.
The rebound was mainly driven by the growing domestic Chinese market. Chinese prices began to rise from June onwards, leading to the reopening of an arbitrage in July and attracting producers from North America, the Middle East and South Korea.
Saudi Arabia remained China's largest PE supplier with imports of 2.06mn t during January-October. Imports from the US rose to 2.02mn t, more than doubling compared with the previous year. Iran, South Korea and Canada also increased their supplies to China as premiums narrowed. Major suppliers sought to return to China and alleviate their inventory pressure.
The largest increase for January-October was linear low-density polyethylene that rose by 19.3pc from the previous year to 4.3mn t. This was followed by low-density polyethylene that was up by 1.7pc to 2.54mn t. High-density polyethylene imports fell by 15.85pc to 4.22mn t.
China's PE production during January-October increased to 22.52mn t, up by 11.2pc compared with 20.25mn t in the same period last year, according to Argus data. China's PE self-sufficiency increased to 66pc in 2022 and is projected to rise above 68pc until the end of this year.
