China styrene industry faces lower import dependence

China’s self-sufficiency rate of styrene intensified significantly in recent five years, in line with faster industry capacity expansion, and this will greatly dampen the dependence on imported styrene.

As the world’s largest industrial country, China ranks first in both the production and consumption capacity of styrene globally. The self-sufficiency rate of styrene has been increasing year by year from 88% in 2021 to 100% in 2025.

China’s styrene capacity eyed a faster expansion during 2021-2025, with the newly-added capacity totaling 11.68 mln tonnes/year, and the compound annual growth rate will reach 12.96%. By the end of the year, the cumulative capacity of styrene will climb to 23.72 mln t/y. And the newly-added capacity will hit 2.57 mln t/y in the year, accounting for 10.83% of total capacity.

China’s Styrene Capacity in 2021-2025 (Unit: ‘000 tonnes)

Source: OilChem

With the successive operation of styrene plants at Hengli Petrochemical, Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical, Shenghong Refining & Chemical, Petrochina Guangdong Refining & Chemical, Yulong Petrochemical, Chambroad Petrochemicals Sidarui, and Petrochina Guangxi Petrochemical in 2021-2025, China’s styrene capacity expansion entered a period of rapid growth. Although it once stagnated in 2024, there was a significant increase again in 2025. Among them, the newly built styrene capacity in 2023 was 3.70 mln t/y, accounting for 17.38% of the total for that year.

The growth of styrene capacity and output significantly outpaced that of consumption during 2021-2025. The rising supply in China continually curbed the share of imported cargoes. China’s styrene imports have dropped from 1.69 million tonnes in 2021 to 220,000 tonnes in the year, a decrease of 86.98%. The dependence on imported cargoes retreated from 12.41% to 1.24%. Judging from the data of the past five years, styrene in China has become a completely self-sufficient product.

China’s Styrene Output and Imports in 2021-2025 (Unit: ‘000 tonnes)

Source: GACC, OilChem

The capacity growth of styrene, however, will slow down during 2026-2030, due to partial saturation of domestic styrene supply and poor profits of enterprises. It is estimated that four new styrene units will be built from 2026 to 2030, and some frequently idle plants will be phased out. The annual capacity growth rate will be within 2%.