China's paraxylene imports in September jumped 26.57% from August to 591,202 mt, and were up 13.25% on year, customs data released Thursday showed

Market sources said the startups of new downstream purified terephthalic acid plants in China lifted the country's PX imports. PX is a key feedstock for PTA.

China's Jiaxing Petrochemical started up its new 1.5 million mt/year PTA plant in Zhejiang province at the end of August, while Hengli Petrochemical also started up its new 2.2 million mt/year PTA plant in Dalian early September, Platts reported earlier.

Market sources said China's PX imports would likely increase as more PTA plants are scheduled to be started up. Zhejiang Yisheng Petrochemical plans to start up its 1.8 million mt/year PTA plant in Hainan around the end of November.