ICIS--China’s imports of butyl glycol (BG) and butyl diglycol (BDG) totalled 11,224 tonnes in August, down nearly 20% from July, based on official trade statistics released on Friday. Around 90% or 10,000 tonnes of the total imported volumes last month was BG, said a regional trader. “Demand for glycol ethers has been reasonable in China over the past few months. However, the start-up of China’s first domestic BG plant this year is a possible reason for the drop in import numbers,” said a regional seller. China started up its first glycol ether facility – a 100,000 tonne/year plant owned by Dynamic Tianyin Holdings. Compared to the same period last year, the country took in 32% more volumes of combined BG and BDG in August 2009, the government data showed. China has imported around 71,300 tonnes of combined BG and BDG in the January-to-August 2009 period.