Tokyo — Figures from Japan's Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) show the nation produced more polyurethane in 2016 across all types including rigid and flexible turning around most of the 12% drop in 2015.
In 2016 figures show the industry produced 187kT compared with 174 kT in 2015. The largest increase was in the flexible foam sector which saw an 8% rise to 122 kT up from 113 kT in 2015.
The rate of rigid production increased slightly more slowly at 6% at 65 kT compared to 61 kT in 2015.
Data from MITI show that production was ahead in almost every month in 2016, with only October 2015 being very slightly ahead of the same month in 2016.
Figures from MITI show that in 1995 the Japanese polyurethane industry was producing around 275 kT of all types of polyurethane. This grew to just under 300 kT in 1997 before starting a long slow decline to around 250 kT in 2005. Production fell more sharply between 2006 and 2008 reaching a low of 163 kT in 2009. That was a drop of 58 kT or 26% compared to the previous year.
There is a two-month lag between the reporting month and the availability of statistics from MITI.
