BPA Import Market: Thailand Lost the First Place

Introduction: According to the custom data, China imported 35.5kt BPA in August, which was down 21.79% from last month. The import from Thailand declined greatly at 27.90%. The detailed analysis is as follows:

According to the origins’ analysis, South Korea replaced Thailand, and exported around 11.1kt of BPA to China. Thailand became the second origin. The import volume of Thai BPA was 9,894mt, down 27.90 because the unit in PTT underwent maintenance from mid-July to H1 August. The import volume from Singapore was 9,855mt, ranking the third place.

From the trade mode, processing trade of imported material ranked the first place with the import volume at 17.4kt. The import volume of BPA imported via general trade was 14.4kt, occupying 41%. In August, the mainstream offers for BPA in East China were in the range of RMB 9,100-9,600/mt. USD offers were firm and higher than the domestic prices. Downstream users and traders were cautious when buying. The overall trading was thin.

In August, most goods were imported via Shanghai Customs. The import volume was 29.4kt, accounting for 84% of the total. The import volume declined 17% or so from last month.

In the first eight months of 2017, the import volume of BPA was 293kt, increasing 13.17 from the same period of 2016. The import volume jumped in February and July. Though Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China made anti-dumping investigation on Thai BPA, teh import volume didn’t decline. Around 105kt of BPA were from Thailand, up 20% or so from last year.  

In September, the Chinese BPA market moved marginally first and then fluctuated upwards. At the end of September, the mainstream price increased to RMB 9,850/mt. As the production cost of International BPA is high, the offers remain high and firm. With the appreciation of the RMB, the price spread between domestic and international markets has shrunk. It is predicted that the import volume will move up in September.