Japan’s ethylene output dives 11.1%

Japan’s 2008 ethylene production fell 11.1% from the previous year to 6.88 million tons amid a plunge in demand for petrochemical products, posting the sharpest fall in 27 years, the Japan Petroleum Industry Association (JPIA) said. This decline is comparable with the 12.5% fall in 1981, when production volume sank below 7 million tons for the first time in 13 years, JPIA noted. Japanese petrochemical makers scrambled to cut back on production to counteract the plunge in demand, making the 2008 output drop sharply from the previous year’s output of 7.74 million tons. (January 22, 2009)