March 2016 statistics show a rebound in China’s imports of both virgin and recycle commodity polymers. China’s exports of commodity polymers hit a record high.

China went back to work in March after the national holiday in February and polymer trade rebounded. Imports of LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE, EVA, general purpose polystyrene, ABS and SAN posted particularly sharp increases for the month.

Imports of ethylene polymers totaled 2.8 million tons through the quarter, down 1% from the same period last year. It is important to note, however, that first quarter imports in 2015 were all-time record high. Among the changes this year among countries supplying polymer to China were lower volumes of LDPE, LLDPE and HDPE from Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Thailand, but higher volumes from Iran and the United States.

China’s commodity polymer exports soared to a new record in March on strong shipments of bottle grade PET, uncompounded PVC, polypropylene homopolymer, and expandable polystyrene.

From International Trader Publications’: China Polymer World Trade Report. For a free trial contact ITP@ITPweb.com