Japan Becomes a Net Petrochemical Importer as Naphtha Prices Surge

Japan's petrochemical trade pattern has reversed, with imports exceeding exports. According to Jin10, Nikkei reported that the Iran war disrupted supplies of naphtha derived from crude oil, boosting Japan's imports of basic petrochemical feedstocks used to make plastics and other products, and making purchases from China and South Korea more cost-effective. Trade data showed that from March to May this year, Japan's ethylene imports rose 14-fold year on year. Imports of butadiene, a raw material for synthetic rubber, more than doubled, while benzene imports rose more than 28-fold. At the same time, exports of these products declined, with ethylene exports in May falling to nearly zero. According to the Japan Petrochemical Industry Association, Japan's ethylene imports exceeded exports by 19,000 metric tons in April and by 15,000 metric tons in May. It was the first monthly instance of ethylene imports exceeding exports since comparable data became available in 2000.