Brief analysis of polyethylene import and export from January to February 2021

Under the influence of the low base in 2020, my country's import and export growth rate increased year-on-year in the first two months of 2021. From January to February 2021, the total import of PE is about 256.29 tons, an increase of 19.79% over the same period last year and an increase of 8.37% from the previous month. Among them, LDPE (tariff number 39011000) imported about 544,600 tons, an increase of 23.63% over the same period last year; HDPE (tariff number 39012000) imported about 1.0973 million tons, a decrease of 3.37% from the same period last year; LLDPE (tariff number 39014020) imported about 921,000 tons , An increase of 16.74% over the same period last year. As this period coincides with the Spring Festival holiday, the market and logistics are basically in a period of stagnation, and the port's loading, unloading and customs declaration are also affected to a certain extent, so the total PE imports in February decreased significantly.

　　 Below, we will introduce the performance of my country's import market from January to February 2021 from three main aspects: import source country, provinces, municipalities, and import trade methods.

From the perspective of importing countries, Saudi Arabia is still the main importer. From January to February 2021, Saudi Arabia exported about 504 thousand tons of polyethylene to my country, accounting for 19.52%; Iran exported about 382,800 tons to my country, ranking No. The second accounted for 14.94%; the UAE exported about 270,200 tons to my country, ranking third, accounting for 10.54%.

　　From the import data of various provinces and cities, it can be seen that East China and South China are still the main import regions in China. From January to February 2021, Zhejiang Province imported 652,500 tons, accounting for about 25.46%; Shanghai imported 434,700 tons, accounting for 16.96%; Guangdong Province imported 325,400 tons, accounting for 12.70%.

China’s polyethylene import trade method ranks first in general trade, accounting for 85.28%. This highlights the position of polyethylene imported materials in domestic consumption, and also determines the high degree of dependence on foreign countries. Domestic production capacity is still insufficient to meet domestic consumption. Demand; the second place is processing trade with imported materials, accounting for 7.6%.

Intensive overhauls in the Middle East and Southeast Asia; Iranian New Year and Ramadan in March-April; container operation difficulties and high sea freight will affect the cargo shipment date. In addition, the US PE equipment will resume production at the end of March, but due to the low operating rate of the equipment and the United States Domestic inventory is low, and the later supply mainly meets domestic demand. As the United States is one of the main sources of China's polyethylene raw materials, my country's imports will also be affected. The import volume is expected to be tight next month.

　　Statistics show that the total export volume of PE from January to February 2021 is about 40,900 tons, an increase of 16.5% year-on-year. Among them, LDPE exports were about 14,500 tons, a year-on-year increase of 34.26%; HDPE exports were about 20,900 tons, a year-on-year increase of 0.1%; LLDPE exports were about 5,500 tons, a year-on-year increase of 52.8%. Although domestic prices rose from January to February, foreign markets were still higher than domestic ones, export profits were relatively higher, and companies were actively exporting. Therefore, domestic export orders increased sharply from January to February, diversifying some domestic sources of goods. In March, many domestic petrochemical plants are undergoing or are about to undergo maintenance. The market supply is relatively limited, so the total export volume may decrease next month.