China’s polymer imports took a steep dive in February. However, the most remarkable fact was that monthly imports stayed below the threshold of 1 million tons for the first time in the past five years, according to ChemOrbis Import Statistics.
Chinese Customs Administration revealed earlier this month that China imported more than 910,000 tons of polymers in February. When compared to January, overall imports were down by 73% in February while they indicated a 62% decrease with respect to the same month of 2012. This sharp decrease was attributed to the Chinese New Year holiday that took place in February this year.
The fact that a monthly record high was achieved in January imports with more than one and a half million tons played a role in the sharp decrease seen in February figures. Building stocks in warehouses helped reduce Chinese players’ appetite for new imports in February.
Indeed, the cumulative polymer imports for the months of January and February 2013 posted a much smaller decrease of 4.8% compared to the same period of 2012. This was due to the fact that the Chinese New Year holidays occurred in January of 2012 and February of 2013. For this reason, the combination of the first two months’ of imports results in a minor decrease in a year over year comparison.
However, the import figures for February were individually important as it was the first time that China imported less than 1 million tons on a monthly basis since 2008, when the economic crisis hit the global economy according to ChemOrbis.
