Data from the Saudi General Authority for Statistics shows that the kingdom's import of plastic products increased by 18 percent to 456,000 tons in the second quarter of 2022 from 386,000 tons in the same period last year. .
According to Arab News, the report of the Saudi General Authority for Statistics said that the increase in the import of plastic was caused by the 45% annual increase in imports from China.
The increase in the kingdom's plastic imports was the highest since the second quarter of 2019, while the increase in rubber products was the highest since the third quarter of 2019.
Total imports of plastics and rubber rose 19 percent to 7.1 billion riyals in the second quarter of 2022 from 6 billion riyals in the year-ago period.
The value of plastic imports rose 18 percent quarter-on-quarter to 4.8 billion riyals from 4 billion riyals, while the value of rubber rose 23 percent to 2.4 billion riyals from 1.9 billion riyals.
Looking at the history of year-to-year changes in value, rubber has seen more volatility than plastic.
However, this was not the case in the second quarter of 2022 as the price of imported plastics increased by 15% year-on-year to 31%, compared to an 18% increase in rubber.
Over the three-year period from the second quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2022, the value of plastic imports increased by 40 percent, while its volume grew by only 12 percent.
