Tokyo — Polyurethane production in Japan grew by 5% in October 2018, compared with a fall of 8.7% in September 2018 which was the second consecutive monthly fall in production. This is according to figures from Japan’s Ministry of International Trade and Industry.
In total, Japan produced 19.3kT of polyurethane in October 2018. This compares with 18.4 kT in October 2017. The rise in production was 920 tonne.
The country produced 12 kT of flexible foam in October 2018, up 500T on October 2017. The nation produced 7.4 kT of rigid foam in October 2018. This compares with 7.0 kT in the same month in 2017.
Overall, Japan produced 171 kT polyurethane between January and October 2018, compared with 163 kT in the same period in 2017. This is an increase of 5%. The country was comfortably producing more polyurethane in the first six months of the year. However, production started to slow over the summer. It fell below the 2017 level for the first time in August 2018, when the country produced 4% less than in August the previous year.
It takes MITI two or three months to collate and check polyurethane production statistics.
