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Japan’s petrochemical industry faces difficult challenges within their domestic market and strong competitors. Under these circumstances, the petrochemical industry of Japan is putting their strategic plans into action and it seeks to leverage the country’s technological advantage to compete with competitors.

The following set of data gives an overview of Japan’s petrochemical industry

A) CHANGES IN PRODUCTION, EXPORTS & IMPORTS OF MAIN PRODUCTS

B) PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF MAJOR PETROCHEMICALS BY PRODUCERS (END OF 2008 – JAPAN)

    •   Ethylene
    •   Polyolefin
    •   Polystyrene, Styrene Monomer
    •   Vinyl Chloride Monomer
    •   Ethylene Oxide
    •   Acrylonitrile
    •   Polyvinyl Chloride
    •   Acetaldehyde
    •   Synthetic Rubber

C) WORLD SUPPLY AND DEMAND FOR ETHYLENE DERIVATIVES BY AREA (JAPAN)

    •   Ethylene Derivatives Demand (As Ethylene Equivalent)
    •   Ethylene Derivatives Capacity (As Ethylene Equivalent)

D) PRODUCTION AND TRADE OF PETROCHEMICALS IN THE RECENT YEARS (JAPAN)

    •   Olefins
    •   Benzene
    •   Toluene
    •   Xylene

E) Actual Shipments of products manufactured in Japan for supply to the home market in 2008

A) CHANGES IN PRODUCTION, EXPORTS & IMPORTS OF MAIN PRODUCTS                   UNIT: 1,000 MTA   PRODUCTION IMPORT EXPORT   2006 2007 2008 2009 2006 2007 2008 2009 2006 2007 2008 2009 Ethylene 7,522 7,739 6,882 6,913 104 55 142 42 299 283 197 588 LDPE 1,876 1,878 1,818 1,605 201 197 261 177 212 211 189 303 HDPE 1,069 1,135 1,052 986 16 11 27 30 165 177 139 275 PP 3,049 3,087 2,871 2,411 100 110 194 115 456 517 388 388 PS(GP.HI) 932 908 829 685 10 3 7 13 82 100 85 64 PVC 2,146 2,162 1,797 1,668 11 7 9 11 766 861 595 728 Total Main5 Resins 9,072 9,170 8,367 14,268 338 328 498 346 1,681 1,866 1,396 1,758 EG 763 754 629 581 25 18 20 2 168 167 44 176 SM 3,295 3,533 2,851 2,996 12 10 3 3 1,378 1,628 1,133 1,599 AN 667 743 600 602 41 36 37 5 122 170 117 262 SOURCE: For Production, METI; For Export and Import, MOF back to top B) PRODUCTION CAPACITY OF MAJOR PETROCHEMICALS BY PRODUCERS (END OF 2009 – JAPAN)   UNIT: 1,000 MTA Ethylene       Turnaround Year Full Operation Year Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. 997 1,101 Keiyo Ethylene Co., Ltd. 690 768 Maruzen Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 480 525 Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. 1,278 1,397 Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. 553 612 Nippon Petroleum Refining Co., Ltd. 404 443 Osaka Petrochemical Industries, Ltd. 455 500 Sanyo Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 443 504 Showa Denko K.K. 615 691 Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. 380 415 Tonen Chemical Corp. 491 540 Tosoh Corp. 493 527 Total 7,279 8,023 SOURCE: For Production, METI; For Export and Import, MOF back to top UNIT: 1,000 MTA Polyolefin         LDPE (Including L-LDPE) HDPE PP Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corp. 120 163 - Chisso Corp. - 63 - Du Pont-Mitsui Polychemicals 170 - - Evolue Japan Co., Ltd 240 - - Japan Polyethylene Corp. 711 475 - Japan Polypropylene Corp. - - 1,082 Maruzen Petrochemical Co., Ltd - 111 - Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. - 4 - Nippon Unicar Co., Ltd 290 10 - Prime Polymer Co., Ltd. 156 333 1,071 Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd 305 - 316 SunAllomer - - 347 Tokuyama Polypro Ltd., Co. - - 200 Tosoh Corp. 183 125 - Ube-Maruzen Polyethylene Co., Ltd. 197 - - Ube Polypropylene Co., Ltd. - - 90 Total 2,372 1,285 3,106 SOURCE: For Production, METI; For Export and Import, MOF back to top UNIT: 1,000 MTA Polystyrene, Styrene Monomer       Polystyrene Styrene Monomer Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corp. - 678 Chiba Styrene Monomer Limited Company - 270 DIC Corp. 131 - Denki Kagaku Kogyo K.K. - 240 Idemitsu Kosan Co., Ltd. - 550 Japan Polystyrene Inc. 162 - Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. - 371 Nihon Oxirane Co., Ltd. - 412 Nippon Steel Chemical Co., Ltd. - 422 PS Japan Corp. 445 - Taiyo Petrochemical Co., Ltd.   335 Toyo Styrene Co., Ltd. 278 - Total 1,016 3,278 SOURCE: For Production, METI; For Export and Import, MOF back to top   Vinyl Chloride Monomer       Kaneka Corp. 540 Kashima Vinyl Chloride Monomer Co., Ltd. 600 Keiyo Monomer Co., Ltd. 200 Tokuyama Corp. 330 Tosoh Corp. 1,454 V-Tech Corp. 391 Total 3,515 SOURCE: For Production, METI; For Export and Import, MOF back to top   Ethylene Oxide       Maruzen Petrochemical Co., Ltd. 197 Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. 286 Mitsui Chemicals, Inc. 219 Nippon Shokubai Co., Ltd. 254 Total 956 SOURCE: For Production, METI; For Export and Import, MOF back to top   Acrylonitrile       Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corp. 419 Dia Nitrix Co., Ltd. 196 Showa Denko K.K. 59 Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd. 52 Total 726 SOURCE: For Production, METI; For Export and Import, MOF back to top   Polyvinyl Chloride       Kaneka Corp. 466 Shin Dai-Ichi Vinyl Corp. 259 Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. 550 Taiyo Vinyl Corp. 558 Tokuyama Sekisui Co., Ltd. 115 Tosoh Corp. 28 V-Tech Corp. 220 Total 2,197 SOURCE: For Production, METI; For Export and Import, MOF back to top   Acetaldhyde       Japan Aldehyde Co., Ltd 69 Kyowa Hakko Chemical Co., Ltd 60 Showa Denko K.K. 300 Total 429 SOURCE: For Production, METI; For Export and Import, MOF back to top       Synthetic Rubber         SBR BR IR Asahi Kasei Chemicals Corp. 133 24 - Japan Elastomer Co., Ltd. 40 11 - JSR Corp. 259 65 40 Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. 43 - - Ube Industries, Ltd. - 95 - ZEON Corp. 153 55 33 Total 628 250 73 SOURCE: For Production, METI; For Export and Import, MOF back to top C) World Supply and Demand for Ethylene Derivatives by Area       1. Ethylene Derivatives Demand (As Ethylene Equivalent)   (Unit: Million Ton, %)   World Asia Western Europe North, Central and South America Middle East Demand 2006 107.3 39.2 24.1 32.5 3.1 2012 142.5 57.7 28.2 39.4 6.3 Increment 06-12 35.2 18.5 4.1 6.9 3.2 Annual Growth Rate 06-12 4.8 6.7 2.7 3.3 12.8                   2. Ethylene Derivatives Capacity (As Ethylene Equivalent)   (Unit: Million Ton, %)   World Asia Western Europe North, Central and South America Middle East Demand 2006 126.8 40.9 25.9 39.9 11.6 2012 164 57.9 27.4 42.4 25.9 Increment 06-12 37.2 16.9 1.4 2.6 14.3 Annual Growth Rate 06-12 4.4 5.9 0.9 1 14.3 SOURCE: For Production, METI; For Export and Import, MOF back to top D) PRODUCTION AND TRADE OF PETROCHEMICALS IN THE RECENT YEARS (JAPAN) Item: Olefins           (Unit: 1,000 MT) PRODUCT   2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Ethylene Production 7,618 7,522 7,739 6,882 6,913 Import 274 299 283 197 588 Export 89 104 55 142 42 Propylene Production 6,030 6,090 6,286 5,674 5,591 (From Cracker) (4,887) (4,912) (5,022) (4,479) (4,459) (From FCC) (1,143) (1,178) (1,264) (1,194) (1,131) Import 389 508 493 511 834 Export 30 9 7 85 21 Butadiene Production 1,040 1,002 1,024 953 871 Import 66 42 53 28 121 Export 15 35 27 55 9 Source: Chemical Industry Statistics by METI, Trade Statistics by MOF back to top Item: Benzene, Toluene, Xylene 1. Benzene             (Unit: 1,000 MT)     2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Supply Production 4,098 4,874 5,245 4,581 4,259 Import 197 217 111 71 266 Total 5,177 5,091 5,356 4,652 4,525 Demand Domestic 4,861 4,844 5,129 4,258 4,267 Export 313 247 219 409 226 Total 5,174 5,091 5,347 4,667 4,493 Capacity 5,766 6,188 6,430 6,662 6,659 Source: Chemical Industry Statistics by METI, Trade Statistics by MOF back to top 2. Toluene             (Unit: 1,000 MT)     2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Supply Production 1,676 1,633 1,637 1,433 1,415 Import 76 17 20 15 58 Total 1,752 1,650 1,657 1,448 1,473 Demand Domestic 1,571 1,432 1,383 1,215 1,070 Export 167 235 275 233 397 Total 1,738 1,667 1,658 1,448 1,467 Capacity 2,092 2,122 2,276 2,271 2,317 Source: Chemical Industry Statistics by METI, Trade Statistics by MOF back to top 3. Xylene             (Unit: 1,000 MT)     2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Supply Production 5,570 5,745 6,006 5,698 5,628 Import 111 42 8 0 0 Total 5,681 5,787 6,014 5,698 5,628 Demand Domestic 5,147 5,084 5,013 4,694 4,778 Export 532 668 1,004 995 882 Total 5,679 5,752 6,017 5,689 5,660 Capacity 6,424 6,650 7,270 7,819 7,804 Source: Chemical Industry Statistics by METI, Trade Statistics by MOF back to top E) Actual Shipments of products manufactured in Japan for supply to the home market in 2008   Unit: 1,000MT   LDPE % HDPE % PP % Film 670 -10% 243 -11% 485 -8% Laminating 237 -9% - - - - Oriented Tape (Flat Yarn) - - 60 -11% 26 -19% Injection Molding 73 -10% 103 1% 1236 -12% Blow Molding 39 -3% 165 -13% 19 -6% Fiber - - - - 99 -15% Pipe * 1) 21 -3% 61 -12% - - Wire and Cable 67 -8% - - - - Others 358 -9% 187 2% 413 -13% Total 1466 -9% 819 -7% 2278 -11% SOURCE: For Production, METI; For Export and Import, MOF back to top