China’s half year synthetic rubber imports stable, exports fall

Beijing – China’s synthetic rubber imports over the first half of 2020 reached 585,000 tonnes, up 0.4% from a year ago, according to China Synthetic Rubber Industry Association.
 
Styrene-butadiene rubber registered a 6% decrease from first half o 2019, accounting for nearly a third of total imports. EPDM imports also dropped slightly. 

Butadiene rubber, nitrile butadiene rubber and butyl rubber imports all showed small increases from a year ago.
 

The country’s synthetic rubber exports over the first half of 2020 reached 71,000 tonnes, down 11% from the same period in 2019.
 
Butadiene rubber exports rose 13% to roughly 26,000 tonnes, holding the highest volume among the synthetic rubber materials. Styrene butadiene block copolymer exports plunged 40% to 12,000 tonnes.
 
During the six-month period, China imported 636,000 tonnes of natural rubber, down 21% year on year. Its imports of ‘mixed rubber,’ natural rubber mixed with low contents of synthetic materials, increased 18% to 1.54 million tonnes.