BEIJING – According to Chinese Customs, more than 1.6 million tons of polymers were imported during the month of August, hitting the highest monthly figures for 2012. Overall August imports showed an increase of more than 13 percent month over month as China's imports traditionally move higher in August. However, this year the month of August marked an all-time high for the month based on the import statistics dating back to 2001, as per ChemOrbis. When looking at the imports by country, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan are listed as the major import suppliers of China in 2012, the data reealed. LDPE witnessed the sharpest increase month over month as imports for this product rose by 26 percent when compared to July to 154,000 tons. Breaking down the origins, Thailand significantly outpaced other import suppliers with more than 20,000 tons of monthly imports in August while the second major supplier was the US with around 12,000 tons of imports. The second largest increase on a month over month basis was for HDPE as imports for this product posted a monthly increase of 21 percent to 418,000 tons. South Korea exported more than 79,000 tons of HDPE to China in August, having the largest monthly share amongst its rivals, although it was closely followed by Saudi Arabia and Iran. The US and India were also marked as the countries raising their market share the most on a monthly basis as they each quadrupled their exports to China to above 10,000 tons in August. LLDPE imports registered a monthly increase of 15 percent to 244,000 tons with Saudi Arabia and Thailand at almost breakeven levels of 48,000 - 49,000 tons per each, Chinese Customs data showed. Similarly, homo PP offers saw a 15 percent increase in August when compared to July and moved up to 394,000 tons. As was the case in HDPE, South Korea was on top of the list for the major import suppliers with more than 95,000 tons of imports, which was followed by Saudi Arabia with more than 89,000 tons of imports. However, when looking at the monthly increase by country, Saudi Arabia raised its exports to China by 35 percent and India followed it by raising its sales to the country by 26 percent in August from July. PVC imports also moved up by 22 percent month on month to 99,000 tons in August. The US was the main import supplier last month in China's PVC market with more than 32,000 tons of imports. The country also raised its PVC exports by 25 percent month over month. The second largest import supplier of China was Taiwan with more than 30,000 tons of imports in August. – SG/Agencies
