Ethylene output from Japan decreased in December 2015

According to the data from the Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan’s ethylene output in Dec 2015 decreased 2.5% compared to the same period 2014 to 614,100 tons.

Over the past two years, the Japanese petrochemical industry undergoes a serious rationalization with Mitsubishi Chemical shutdown their no.1 ethylene cracker permanently in May 2014 due to aging facility and declining domestic demand. The cracker has an annual capacity 392,000 tons/year. A year later, Sumitomo Chemical mothballed their 415,000 tons/year ethylene cracker in Chiba for the same good reasons. On the list, Asahi Kasei is mulling over closing down their naphtha cracker in Mizushima this Feb 2016. The cracker is able to produce 504,000 tons/year of ethylene. Japan has lost approximate 1.3 million tons of ethylene with the close down of these three crackers, in which players are expecting considerable reduction in ethylene export from Japan this 2016.        

The following table presents the change in Japanese ethylene production in selected time frame.

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