Import deliveries of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) to the Russian market shrunk by 23% y/y in the Jan-May period, writes Market Report. The country imported a total of 98.1 thousand tonnes of HDPE in the first 5 months of the year, vs. 128.2 thousand tonnes a year earlier. At the same time, the seasonal increase in demand, coupled with the idling of the Stavrolen plant, pushed the April and May imports up to the respective levels of 23.2 and 22 thousand tonnes of HDPE.
Russia’s Jan-to-May imports of HDPE for extrusion coating declined by 14% from their previous-year level, with May deliveries shrinking to 3.2 thousand tonnes from 5.3 thousand tonnes in April. The customs duty on the imports of this type of polyethylene, currently set at 9.1%, has been suspended in a relatively recent decision, so we may yet see the imports rising in the months ahead.
Pipe-grade HDPE imports declined by 27% y/y in the first 5 months of the year, reaching 24.1 thousand tonnes. The already mentioned idling of Stavrolen caused an April-to-May import increase in this product category as well, from 5.8 to 8.1 thousand tonnes.
Imports of HDPE for injection molding, on the contrary, grew by 2% in Jan-May relative to the same-period mark in 2013, reaching 19.9 thousand tonnes. In May, deliveries declined to 4 thousand tonnes from 5.1 thousand tonnes in April.
Cross-border deliveries of blow-mold grade HDPE amounted to 14.5 thousand tonnes in Jan-May, marking a 12% decline from the same period of 2013. May deliveries of this type of HDPE reached 3.4 thousand tonnes, while in April they amounted to 4.6 thousand tonnes.
Imports of film-grade HDPE to the Russian market dropped by 65% y/y, reaching 8.5 thousand tonnes. In May, deliveries totaled 2.4 thousand tonnes, in April, 1.3 thousand tonnes.
It bears reminding that the total output of Russian HDPE producers shrunk by 13% to 373 thousand tonnes in the period spanning from January through May. Only two companies, Kazanorgsintez and Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat, managed to increase their production.
