Japan Dec petchem naphtha imports rise 6 pct y/y

Japan’s naphtha imports for the petrochemical sector rose 6 percent in December from a year earlier, government figures showed on Thursday.

Imports of naphtha for ethylene production totalled 1.31 million tonnes last month, compared with 1.23 million tonnes in the same month a year earlier, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.

Following is a table of naphtha import volume.

                        Name          Dec-18          Nov-18           Dec-17
    Total import (kilolitres)      1,895,737       1,808,412        1,790,380
        Total import (tonnes)      1,312,602       1,239,415        1,233,586
       Total import value ($)    809,432,819     866,681,821      713,400,319
                      $/Tonne          616.7           699.3            578.3
       Currency rate (yen/$)           113.1           113.0            112.5
                Yen/kilolitre         48,291          54,155           44,827

Source: Reuters (Reporting by Tokyo Newsroom; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)