Insight Focus
- Chinese PET exports drop sharply in September, led by weaker seasonal demand.
- Taiwanese PET exports remained strong in Q3’22, with additional Australian flows.
- Korean exports drift lower as key US and European markets move into off-season.
China’s Bottle-Grade PET Resin Market
Monthly Exports
- Chinese Customs reported bottle-grade PET exports of over 323k tonnes (HS 39076110) in September, a 28% decrease on the previous month, although far exceeding monthly volumes in previous years.
- Whilst greater interest in Asian exports is being shown by some large foreign buyers, new order intake remains sluggish.
- As a result, expectations are for exports to continue to move lower through Q4 before buyers in the Northern hemisphere target an increase in deliveries ahead of the 2023 peak-season.
- Algeria was the largest destination for Chinese PET resin exports in September with over 21.6k tonnes, falling 7% from the previous month, but consistently one of China’s major export markets for PET resin.
- Exports to Russia, another tradition PET sink for Chinese resin, decreased to 19.4k tonnes in September. Year-to-date volumes to Russia are up 42% versus 2021 volumes.
Source: China Customs Data
- PET resin flows to Tanzania and Indonesia were China’s third and fourth largest export markets in September, with 42.3k tonnes and 36.8k tonnes respectively.
- Exports to Indonesia performed particularly strongly increasing 27% on the month, whilst Tanzanian volumes fell 21%.
Quarterly Exports
- Looking at the latest full quarter, Chinese bottle-grade PET Resin exports totalled 1.14 million tonnes in Q3’22, down 3% versus Q2’22, whilst up 75% versus the same quarter a year earlier.
- Central America and Russia & CIS regions experienced the largest quarterly gains, up 41% and 10% versus Q2’22 respectively
- Whilst volumes to Europe and Middle East fell 34% and 22% respectively.
Volumes to South America also performed well increasing 5% and are likely to see some improvement in Q4’22 as the regions now moves into its peak summer season.
Taiwan Bottle-Grade PET Resin Market
Quarterly Exports
- Taiwanese PET resin exports totalled 259k tonnes in Q3’22, a decrease of around 10% on the previous quarter and 4% year-on-year.
- Japan remained the largest destination for Taiwanese resin, recording over 129k tonnes in Q3, a marginal increase of 1% on Q2’22, and up 9% for the first three quarters versus 2021.
- Exports to the United States fell back sharply in Q3, with a decrease of over 29% to 64k tonnes.
- Through the first three-quarters, exports to the United States had still recorded strong growth of nearly 40%.
- The United States and Japan made up over 75% of Taiwan’s total PET resin exports in Q3’22.
- Amongst other smaller export destinations, Australia, China, and Fiji saw some of the largest volume increases.
- Q3’22 volumes to Australia gained 34% on the previous quarter, increasing to 11k tonnes, almost double that recorded a year earlier, and up 30% year-to-date.
South Korea’s Bottle-Grade PET Resin Market
Quarterly Exports
- South Korean bottle-grade PET exports drifted lower in Q3’22, falling to 84k tonnes for the quarter following a similar seasonal trend seen in previous years.
- Q3’22 export volumes represented a decrease of 8% on the previous quarter, and a 15% decline on Q3’21. That said volumes for the first three-quarters of 2022 were still up 8% year-on-year.
- South Korea’s largest export market is the United States, which accounted for around 28k tonnes in Q3’22, down 35% on the previous quarter, although up 28% over the first three-quarters of 2022 versus the previous year.
- Japan and China were the next largest export destinations for Korean resin, recording 10.6k tonnes and 6.5k tonnes respectively in Q3’22.
- Exports to European countries, including Spain, Germany, and Bulgaria recorded strong quarterly growth, with increases of 170%, 1147%, and 38% respectively, with improved Korean resin price competitiveness.
Quarterly Imports
- South Korea’s bottle-grade PET resin imports totalled 29k tonnes in Q3’22, a slight decrease of 4% versus Q2’22, and up marginally year-to-date versus 2021.
- China remained South Korea’s main resin supplier, supplying over 95% of Korea PET resin imports, over 27k tonnes in Q3’22.
Data Appendix
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