The utilization rate of ethylene equipment in Japan is continuously lower than 90%

Recently, statistics released by the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association show that the utilization rate of ethylene equipment in Japan was 83.2% in September. This is the second month in a row that the index has been below the 90 percent business target.

Ethylene production in Japan fell 24% to 405,000 tons in September from a year earlier, according to the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association. Among them, the production decreased by 13% year on year due to the regular maintenance of production equipment, but the equipment utilization decreased by 24% year on year due to the decrease of market demand. Factors affecting demand include continued declines in exports to China and rising domestic prices in Japan. Thanks to the recovery of Chinese market demand, the utilization rate of ethylene equipment in Japan exceeded 90% in July. But by August, Japan's ethylene equipment utilization rate had fallen below 90 percent again, also because of the Chinese market.

Shipments of Japan's four main resins, low-density polyethylene, high-density polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene, were all lower in September than a year earlier, the data also showed. With the exception of polystyrene, shipments of the other three resins were the lowest for a single September in the past 10 years.