Petrochemical Majors: JPCA Stats (Apr): Ethylene Capacity Utilization Below 70% for Second Straight Month Amid Middle East Tensions

Research evidence excerpt

Petrochemical Majors: JPCA Stats (Apr): Ethylene Capacity Utilization Below 70% for Second Straight Month Amid Middle East Tensions

Update

May 21, 2026 03:26 PM GMT

Morgan Stanley MUFG Securities Co., Ltd.+MPetrochemical Majors | Japan Takato Watabe

Equity Analyst

JPCA Stats (Apr): Ethylene Takato.Watabe@morganstanleymufg.comRyoichi Watanabe +81 3 6836-5436

Ryoichi.Watanabe@morganstanleymufg.com +81 3 6836-8929

Capacity Utilization Below 70% Kayoko Shoji

Research Associate

Kayoko.Shoji@morganstanleymufg.com +81 3 6836-5437

for Second Straight Month Kano Fujita

Kano.Fujita@morganstanleymufg.com +81 3 6836-8932

Amid Middle East Tensions

In April 2026, the ethylene capacity utilization rate declined to

67.3%, down 1.5ppt MoM. In addition to scheduled maintenance,

ethylene production fell sharply due to the impact of tensions in Petrochemical Majors

the Middle East. Japan

Industry View Attractive

Number of products showing declines far exceeded those with increases on both

a YoY basis, but number of products showing increases slightly exceeded those

Exhibit 1 : Domestic ethylene plant utilizationwith declines on a MoM basis: On May 21, the Japan Petrochemical Industry

rateAssociation (JPCA) released statistics on ethylene plant utilization rates and

Ethylene Plant Utilization Rate (%)

production volumes of major petrochemical products for April 2026 (including 105

inventories for selected products). Ethylene production in March fell 37.1% YoY to 100

284,000 tons, with the utilization rate at 67.3% (vs. 78.6% a year earlier). On a 90

MoM basis, production increased 3.6% and utilization rate fell 1.5ppt. On a YoY 85

basis, production decreased significantly, largely due to scheduled maintenance and 75

lower utilization rates.