A surge in EVA imports into China in recent months was a key factor in the 9% expansion of global trade volume through May, 2015, to 829,000 tons.

China’s imports totaled 337,000 tons through May, up 23% from the same period in 2014. Most of this was sourced from within the Asia-Pacific region, top suppliers including South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore and Thailand. Small volumes were imported from sources outside the region, including Saudi Arabia, the United States and Canada.

For the Asia-Pacific region as a whole, intra-regional trade expanded by 15%, to 433,000 tons; exports, spread over several regions, were 62,000 tons, up 21%; imports from other regions were 73,000 tons, up 9%.

EVA exports from Western Europe and North America declined by 7% and 9%, respectively. Western Europe shipped less EVA to Eastern Europe, with no change to Asia-Pacific; North America’s exports were down on sharply lower shipments to Asia-Pacific, which were not offset by a gain to Latin America. United States imports of EVA, mainly from Canada, hit record levels in April and May, volume YTD of 46,000 tons up 16%.

From ITP’s: EVA World Trade Report