Ukraine's output of polystyrene rose 20.6% year-on-year to 1,925 metric tons in May from 1,596 mt a year earlier and was up 0.5% from April's 1,916 mt, the state statistics committee reported Friday.
In January through May, Ukraine's output of the commodity fell 13.3% year-on-year to 6,375 mt from 7,352 mt in the same period of 2011.
Polystyrene is used in production of plastic goods and packaging, but also in the food industry, medicine, machinery and other economic sectors.
Ukraine's imports of styrene, a raw material used for production of polystyrene, fell 13.9% year-on-year to 5,743 mt in January-May from 6,670 mt a year ago.
The Horlivka-based Stirol, Ukraine's major chemical company and the only producer of polystyrene, has an annual capacity to produce about 50,000 mt of the commodity. The company exports most of the output.
In 2011, Ukraine produced 20,675 mt of polystyrene, up 24.5% from 16,607 mt in 2010.
