Recently, statistics released by the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association showed that in May this year, Japan's ethylene equipment utilization rate was 80.2%, down 2.2 percentage points month-on-month. It has been below 90% for 22 consecutive months, which is regarded as a measure of prosperity. Target value. The association pointed out that sluggish demand from overseas customers and weak market conditions are the main factors responsible for the continued decline in Japan's ethylene equipment utilization.

In the same month, Japan's ethylene production was 395,900 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 2.4%. Three factories at three ethylene producers carried out regular maintenance of ethylene equipment, resulting in a decline in production. Compared with the previous month, although the utilization rate of ethylene equipment decreased, output increased slightly by 0.3% due to an extra working day.

In the same month, domestic shipments of Japan's four major vinyl resins (low density polyethylene, high density polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene) were 335,000 tons, a slight increase from the same month last year. The growth rate of the four major resins was 1% to 3%. Compared with the previous month, due to the public holiday in Japan in early May, customer working days decreased during the holiday period, and shipments of the four major resins all declined. Source: Sinochem New Network