By comparing China's PS imports in 2015 and 2019, great changes have taken place in terms of total volume, import dependence trend and import source.

The import situation of PS in China from 2015 to 2019 has changed greatly. In terms of total volume, China's import of PS in 2019 is expected to be 1.23 million tons, an increase of 68.61% over 2015. From the trend point of view, before 2016, China's PS import dependence declined year by year, but in 2017-2019, the import dependence rose again. From the perspective of import source, the ranking of import source has also changed greatly.

Import volume and import dependence from the decline to rise

From the total PS import point of view, in 2019, China's import PS is expected to be 1.23 million tons, an increase of 68.61% over 2015. Before 2016, China's PS imports were in the downward channel. Since 2017, the import scale has risen sharply. The main reason is that China's anti-dumping on styrene originating in South Korea, Taiwan and the United States, local styrene enterprises more styrene processing into downstream such as PS, ABS, EPS sold to China. Second, since the implementation of China's ban on waste, more waste plastics are sold to China after granulation in Southeast Asia and other places.

Due to the continuous growth of China's PS production capacity, China's PS import dependence decreased year by year before 2016, import dependence was 55% in 2004, to 2016 dependence has dropped to 24%. However, the import dependence also rose again in 2017-2019.

From the analysis table of China's PS by import trading partners, the imports of the top 10 trading partners in 2019 have more than doubled compared with 2015. The PS imports of trading partners such as Taiwan Peng Jinma and South Korea, which were imposed by China's styrene anti-dumping duties, increased by 109% and 114%. In terms of the absolute volume of growth, the trading partner with the largest increase in PS imports was Malaysia. From 2015 to 2019, the number of PS imports sold to China increased from 19,200 tons to 224,600 tons, an increase of 205,400 tons, or 1,169.79%. Southeast Asian countries, such as Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines, saw an impressive growth rate. Iran, on the other hand, began selling PS to China after adding new PS units in 2016.

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