From January to June 2020, my country imported a total of 7.0494 million tons of PX, a decrease of 856,700 tons compared with the same period last year, a year-on-year decrease of 10.84%, and the average monthly import volume was 1.1743 million tons. Against the background of large-scale refining and chemical integration, PX imports continued to shrink in the first half of this year.
Data source: Jin Lianchuang
The picture above shows the comparison of PX import volume in the first half of 2019-2020. It is obvious that the monthly import volume of PX this year has declined compared with last year. Only June this year was higher than the same period last year. According to customs statistics Data show: China imported a total of 7.0494 million tons of PX from January to June 2020, a decrease of 856,700 tons compared with the same period last year, a year-on-year decrease of 10.84%, and the average monthly import volume was 1.1743 million tons. There are two main reasons for the decrease in PX imports in 2020. First, China’s domestic and foreign trade markets have been severely affected by the new coronavirus epidemic, especially the severe international epidemic and public health emergencies. The export volume of some major exporting countries has decreased. Secondly, domestic PX production capacity has increased, and the supply gap has been filled. Zhejiang Petrochemical has a total PX production capacity of 4 million tons. A set of 2 million tons of equipment was put into operation at the end of 2019, and another set of 200 production capacity was put into operation in February this year. In theory, Zhejiang Petrochemical solves the problem. The problem of raw material supply has been solved, so the demand for PX imports has been significantly reduced.
Data source: Jin Lianchuang
According to importing country statistics, There was little change in import source countries from January to June 2019 and January to June 2020. South Korea, Japan, and India still ranked in the top three. South Korea, in particular, could not shake its top position. The amount of PX imported from South Korea in the first half of this year was 265.8 million tons, accounting for 38% of total imports. In the same period last year, South Korea imported 3.135 million tons, accounting for 40%. In the first half of this year, Japanese imports accounted for 12%, slightly smaller than last year. However, in the first half of the year, India imported PX The proportion has increased compared with last year, currently accounting for 11%. It is worth noting that Brunei is a new import source country this year. Hengyi Petrochemical’s 1.5 million tons/year PX device in Brunei was officially put into operation at the end of 2019, and all its PX is supplied to China.
Jin Lianchuang believes that the overall import volume will continue to gradually decrease in the second half of the year, but there will be a wave of increase in import volume at the end of the year. The reason is that the construction of Dongying Weilian Chemical’s 1 million tons/year PX device has been completed , is expected to be officially put into operation at the end of August. Sinochem Quanzhou’s 800,000 tons/year PX unit is expected to be put into operation in October. With the increase in domestic production, the demand for PX imports will decrease in the short term. In addition, due to serious production losses, the load of PX units in Japan and South Korea is not satisfied. However, many downstream PTA devices are also planned to be put into operation at the end of the year. The new production capacity totals 11 million tons, which will basically be put into operation at the end of the year. Considering that there are many uncertainties in the new devices, the operating rate may not be high. Jin Lianchuang expects that from July to October PX import volume is slowly declining, and there may be a wave of import demand from November to December. </p
