Prominent trends year to date included: reduced intra-regional trade in Asia-Pacific and lower imports into the region from North America and Western Europe but higher volumes from Latin America;  a continued downward trend for exports from North America.

Global trade volume in phenol was down 11% through August, to 1.2 million tons, based on reporting countries.

The long decline in China’s imports of phenol continued through August 2014, with volumes year to date down 46% from the prior year, to 146,000 tons. Prices climbed, however, reaching $1601/ton in August.

Trends among the major exporters in the Asia-Pacific region were mixed: shipments from Japan were down 63% through July and totaled 51,000 tons, and exports from Taiwan also dropped, by 47%, to 48,000 tons. South Korea’s exports, however, jumped 63%, to 149,000 tons, strong gains to India, Thailand and Japan offsetting the decline to China.

United States exports continued slowing, shipments down 17% through July, to 182,000 tons. There were no significant imports of phenol into the US over that period.

From: ITP’s World Trade Surveys – providing a continuously updated view of current trade flows between countries and regions for specific products.