ABS import prices rose sharply from January to February

From January to February 2021, China imported 272,000 tons of ABS resin, with an average import price of US$1973.41/ton. Coinciding with the domestic Spring Festival holiday, the total amount of imported ABS from January to February showed a phased decline. The following is a brief analysis of the import data from January to February in the editor of China Plastics.

　　1. ABS imports from January to February 2021 year-on-year/month-on-month

Compared with the imports from January to February of 2020, the import volume from January to February 2021 increased by 25,900 tons, an increase of 10.52%. Compared with the import volume from November to December 2020, the volume of imports decreased by 86,600 tons. The width is 24.15%.

　　 2. ABS data analysis for each province/country of production and sales from January to February 2021

　　 From the import data of various provinces, it can be seen that East China and South China continue to play the leading role of domestic imports, accounting for about 88% of total imports from January to February. Among them, Guangdong imported 130,500 tons, accounting for about 47.97%; Shanghai imported 21,000 tons, accounting for about 7.72%; Zhejiang imported 44,400 tons, accounting for 16.31%; Jiangsu imported 27,800 tons, accounting for about 10.24%; Shandong The province imported 15,100 tons, accounting for about 5.57%.

　　 From the statistics of production and marketing countries, it can be seen that imports from Taiwan and South Korea accounted for more than 71% of the total imports from January to February. Among them, 109,500 tons were imported from Taiwan, China, accounting for 40.28%; 83,800 tons were imported from South Korea, accounting for 30.82%; and 30,000 tons were imported from Malaysia, accounting for 11.04%.

　　3. Comparative analysis of ABS import costs from January to February 2021

　　 The average import price of ABS in January-February 2021 was US$1973.41/ton, an increase of US$450.8/ton or 29.61% year-on-year; an increase of US$202.49/ton or 11.43% month-on-month. There are two main reasons for the sharp increase in ABS import prices from January to February. 1. The domestic demand for ABS is good, and the price upward support is strong enough. 2. Costs soared due to the impact of the extremely cold weather in the United States and the unplanned shutdown of multiple styrene plants in Europe and the United States.

　　 Fourth, next month's import data outlook

　　 After entering March, the demand of ABS downstream factories has not increased significantly. The procurement operation is biased towards just-needed goods, and the market trading atmosphere cannot effectively heat up. Overall, the current ABS demand is tending to be weak. Secondly, the cost pressure brought by the recent increase in the supply of styrene cannot be ignored. It is expected that both the volume and price of ABS import data will decline in March.