Tokyo – Polyurethane foam production in Japan fell by 6.7% in January 2020 compared with January 2019.
In total, Japan produced 14.4 kT of flexible and rigid polyurethane in the month. This compares with 15.4 kT in January 2019.
Cumulatively, Japan has generated 175.1 kT of foam this year. This is down by 16.7%, or 25.1 kT, on this stage last year.
The country produced 9.4 kT of flexible foam in the month. This is a decline of 7.1% on the 10.2 kT produced in January 2019.
Looking at the year to date, flexible foam production has reached 9.4 kT. This is a fall of 8.3%, or 0.7 kT, on the amount produced by this stage last year.
The country's rigid foam production in January grew by 65.3% between 2019 and 2020. In the most recent month, it stood at 5.0 kT; this is 322.0 tonne less than last year.
Taking the year, so far rigid foam production is down by 6.9%. It currently stands at 5.0 kT, which is less than production at this stage last year by 322 tonnes.
The last time that Japan recorded a monthly year-on-year increase in production was in September 2019, when production was up 2.4% on September 2018 at 17kT.
Numbers are collated by MITI, the Japanese trade ministry. There is a lag while the data is checked.
