Import and Export of Synthetic Materials in 2005

The petrochemical industry in the world was at the downturn stage
of the prosperity period in 2005. The sustained high oil price
in the international market, however, resulted in higher prices
of major petrochemical products compared with 2004. Prices of
major petrochemical products imported by China were much higher
than 2004. The capacity of petrochemical raw materials in China
improved remarkably in 2005, but due to the brisk demand of
petrochemical products the import of some major raw materials,
chemical fiber raw materials in particular, had a further
increase. The import of downstream products however had a growth
slowdown or even a negative growth.

Synthetic resins and plastic products

1. The import of synthetic resins and plastic products reduced

The import amount of synthetic resins in China in 2005 was 11.6%
lower than 2004. The average import price of synthetic resins
was US$1 201 per ton, an increase of 20.5% over 2004. The import
amount of plastic products was 1.6% lower than 2004 and the
growth was down by 14.5 percentage points. The average import
price of plastic products was 20.8% higher than 2004.
    The import of the 5 main kinds of general-purpose synthetic
resins (PE (polyethylene), PP (polypropylene), PVC (polyvinyl
chloride), PS (polystyrene) and ABS
(acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene)) in China was still mainly
made from the Asia-Pacific region and the amount accounted for
73.7% of the total, being 2.3 percentage points down compared
with 2004. The amount imported from Taiwan province, Korea,
Japan and Singapore was quite large.
    Provinces and municipalities with a great import amount of
the 5 main kinds of synthetic resins in 2005 included Guangdong
province, Shanghai, Zhejiang province, Shandong province,
Jiangsu province, Fujian province, Beijing and Tianjin. The
import amount in Guangdong province was still the greatest but
the proportion was down by nearly 2.0 percentage points compared
with 2004. The import amount in Shanghai, Zhejiang province,
Shandong province, Jiangsu province, Liaoning province and
Tianjin was increased by different rates. The import amount in
Shanghai, in particular, increased from 946 thousand tons in
2004 to 1.328 million tons in 2005 and the proportion in the
national total was up from 7.1% in 2004 to 9.8% in 2005.
   The import of the 5 main kinds of general-purpose synthetic
resins in 2005 had the following features: (a) The import of the
5 main kinds of general-purpose synthetic resins still held the
leading position in the import of synthetic resins, but the
proportion had some reduction. (b) The import cost was obviously
on the high side. Except PVC with a 5.6% import price growth,
the import price growth of all the other products was above 10%.
(c) Except PE, the import growth of all the other products
dropped remarkably. (d) The high price of LDPE (low density
polyethylene) accelerated its replacement by LLDPE (linear low
density polyethylene). Owing to the brisk demand, the import
amount of LLDPE had a drastic growth of 49.6%. (e) The output
of PVC in China already reached 6.49 million tons in 2005, an
increase of 29% over 2004. The import amount therefore had a
distinctive reduction. (f) The demand of PP and ABS in the
domestic market maintained a rapid growth. Both the output and
the export amount of household electric appliances and IT
(information technology) products increased remarkably and the
import of PP and ABS therefore kept at a relatively high level.

2. The export of synthetic resins increased considerably and the
export of plastic products maintained a stable growth

The export amount of synthetic resins and plastic products in
China reached 1.86 million tons and 12.285 million tons
respectively in 2005, an increase of 71.1% and 14.0% over 2004.
The average export price was also higher than 2004.
   Main reasons for the export increase of synthetic resins were
as follows: (a) The newly added capacity of PVC in China reached
as high as 3.16 million t/a in 2005 and the production cost was
relatively low. (b) Due to the impact from the disastrous
hurricane the price of synthetic resins in the United States
increased drastically in 2005. Some dealers in China resold
imported goods already delivered to ports to America.
   The rapid development of the plastic processing sector in
China in recent years has also benefited from the massive export
increase of plastic products. Due to the sustained high price
of raw materials in 2005, however, the export growth of plastic
products in China was reduced from 18.5% in 2004 to 14.0% in 2005.
Export varieties were mainly contributed by small plastic goods
and plastic packing products. The export amount of other
products with high added value such as boards, sheets, films and
pipes was relatively small, but the growth reached more than 35%.
The export amount of plastic pipes in 2005 was 55.7% higher than
2004.
   Although Chinese producers of plastic products still
participated in the international market competition on the
strength of low price in 2005, the variety of export products
increased gradually and the price also rose constantly. There
was therefore a considerable favorable balance in the import and
export of plastic products. In export products there were still
few varieties with high added value and technical content and
the export market was limited to a few countries and regions.

Synthetic fibers and raw materials

The overall functioning of the textile industry in China
improved further in 2005. The output of synthetic fibers reached
14.868 million tons, an increase of 13.2% over 2004. The supply
ability was further enhanced. The import amount of synthetic
fibers was 1.426 million tons, down by 19.0% compared with 2004.
The export amount was 610 thousand tons, an increase of 59.3%.
Due to the great supply deficit, however, the import amount of
most synthetic fiber raw materials still maintained a trend of
rapid growth.

1. The import amount of synthetic fibers reduced constantly

The supply of polyester fiber in China was greatly increased in
2005. The import amount had a sharp reduction of 26.8% to 642
thousand tons. Polyester fiber was the major variety that led
to the import reduction of synthetic fibers. The import amount
was 465 thousand tons for acrylic fiber, 265 thousand tons for
polyamide fiber, 9 thousand tons for polypropylene fiber, 28
thousand tons for polyurethane fiber and around 18 thousand tons
for other varieties.
   In imported varieties of synthetic fibers, polyester fiber
still holds the leading position in recent years, but the
proportion presents a trend of decline. The import proportion
of polyester fiber was around 45% in 2005, a drop of 7.3
percentage points from 2004. The net import amount of acrylic
fiber and polyamide fiber has maintained stable and the
proportion presents a trend of constant rise. The import
proportion of acrylic fiber and polyamide fiber was 32.6% and
18.6% respectively in 2005, an increase of 5.2 percentage points
and 2.4 percentage points over 2004. The import amount of
polypropylene fiber, polyurethane fiber and other varieties was
still relatively small.
   The import price of synthetic fibers in China in 2005 had a
distinctive increase compared with 2004. The import price of
poly