EU imports of polyethylene terephthalate in September fell 14% to 60,231 mt from 69,789 mt in August, the latest Eurostat data showed.
In contrast, PET imports between January and September rose nearly 23% to 704,859 mt from 574,672 mt a year earlier.
The monthly decline followed slack summer demand in the European PET market, with many buyers sidelined in anticipation of lower prices. PET imports into Europe were mostly on a spot basis.
A weakening in the Euro exchange rate in July also hit import economics for PET. While the Euro had hovered around $1.13/Eur in June, it had fallen to $1.10/Eur in July. PET imports into Europe usually have a delivery lead time of around six weeks.
South Korean exports to the EU fell 29% to 14,278 mt in September from 20,116 mt in August. But it retained its position as the top exporter to the EU in the first nine months at 206,647 mt, up more than 25% from 164,680 mt a year earlier.
Turkish exports to the EU also fell 10% to 14,391 mt in September from 15,928 mt in August. But the country leapfrogged South Korea in the month to become the top exporter of PET to EU.
Turkey also remained in second place as PET supplier to the EU in Jan-Sept with 153,999 mt, up 10% from 139,608 mt in the same period last year.
The rise in Turkish volumes to the EU this year was helped by new plants starting up last year, notably Indorama's 252,000 mt/year plant in Corlu and 130,000 mt/year plant in Adana.
Imports from India also rose as exporters there took advantage of the lifting of EU import duties. It supplied 117,782 mt of PET to the EU between January and September, up more than six-fold from 19,021 mt a year ago.
But Indian exports to EU in September fell 24% to 9,367 mt from 12,378 mt in August.
The EU also imported 65,339 mt of PET from Indonesia during January-September, down 21% from 82,869 mt in the same period last year. Indonesian exports to the EU also fell 10% in September to 4,174 mt from 4,661 mt in August.
Imports from Pakistan surged to 3,546 mt in September from just 762 mt in August. But inflows of Pakistan in Jan-Sept were down almost 7% to 18,404 mt from 19,694 mt a year ago. PET exports from Pakistan to the EU were mostly on a contractual basis, sources said.
The strong increase in container freight rates on the Hanjin Shipping crisis in September also hit import economics during that month. Market players expect a substantial drop in volumes arriving in the fourth quarter.
