Russian polymer output down 3% in Jan-May
MOSCOW. June 20 (Interfax) - Russian chemical industry companies saw a 2.8% year-on-year reduction in production of primary forms of plastics in January-May 2012 to 2.17 million tonnes, the Russian Statistics Service reported.
Russia produced 621,000 tonnes of polyethylene, down 14.5% and 274,300 tonnes of polypropylene, down 10.3%. Production of polystyrene increased 6% to 144,200 and output of PVC climbed 24.5% to 299,500 tonnes.
Output of common and complex polyesters, polycarbonates, alkyd and epoxide resins fell 3.7% to 214,000 tonnes and polyamide production slumped 23.1% to 48,600 tonnes. Russia produced 378,000 tonnes of amino-formaldehyde resins, up 4.3%.
Production of synthetic rubber grew 1.3% to 624,000 tonnes.
Production was down 8.4% to 978,000 tonnes for ethylene, 14% to 501,500 tonnes for propylene, 9.2% to 210,500 tonnes for xylene and 0.8% to 461,300 tonnes for benzene. Styrene production grew 3.5% to 225,600 tonnes and synthetic phenol output was up 2.6% to 116,200 tonnes.
Production of artificial and synthetic fibers fell nearly 8%. Synthetic fiber output slumped 10% to 48,400 tonnes. Production of artificial fiber and thread rose 4% to 8,700 tonnes.
Overall, the index for production of resins and plastics was 105.8% in May 2012 and 103.2% in January-May 2012.
