According to data from the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC), China's naphtha imports stood at 739,800 tonnes in November, down 30.56% from last month. The imports totaled 11.34 million tonnes over January-November, falling 5.19% compared with the same period last month, data showed.
Source: GACC
The monthly fall in November was primarily attributed to the poor import profit margins when the naphtha prices were soft along with falling gasoline prices, while the naphtha prices remained relatively high in Singapore.
Meanwhile, the demand in the naphtha-ethylene cracking spread industry chain has been muted through 2024, hence the YTD naphtha imports fell short of the expectations given at the beginning of the year.
It is expected that China's naphtha imports will approximately total 12.30 million tonnes in 2024, down 4.35% year on year, based on OilChem's analysis.
Written by Aggie Hu, huchenying@mysteel.com
Edited by Navy Liu, liuchuanjun@mysteel.com
