The impact of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami was apparent in Japan’s exports and imports in April.
Exports from Japan of nearly all of the polymers and chemicals followed by ITP were down sharply, especially shipments of benzene, MEG, polycarbonates, polypropylene, propylene copolymers, propylene, PVC and styrene. Export volumes of each of these products except propylene were at their lowest level for the 16 month period January 2010 – April 2011.
As exports fell, Japan’s imports of many products rose to record levels for the period, including benzene, ethylene copolymers, MEG, HDPE, LLDPE, polypropylene, polystyrene (general purpose and expandable) and PVC.
[important]This information is from ITP’s newsletters on global trade in polymers and chemicals, available by subscription monthly or quarterly.[/important]
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