North America exported 4.8 million tons of ethylene polymers to destinations outside the region in 2017, down 7%. Shipments to Europe and Latin America generally declined across polymer grades but exports to Asia-Pacific were higher.
Daily Archives: April 19, 2018
Western Europe’s Polyethylene Trade in 2017
Western Europe imported 4.3 million tons of ethylene polymers in 2017 from all outside sources, up 4% from the prior year, and exported to destinations outside the region slightly less than it had imported, 4.2 million tons, up 7%.
China’ Imports of Polyethylene in 2017
China is the world’s largest polyethylene importer, with a volume in 2017 of 13.5 million tons, up 18%. Continue reading
Chemical Products from US that China has Targeted for Additional Tariffs
In addition to polyethylene, mainly in the form of conventional high pressure polymer, China has proposed tariffs on a number of other chemical and related products. The largest volumes potentially impacted include liquefied propane gas, PVC and EDC.
China’s Proposed Tariffs on PE Would Affect Relatively Small Volumes of US Exports
The volume of US exports of polyethylene that could potentially be exposed to punitive tariffs totaled 229,000 tons in 2017. Conventional high pressure low density polyethylene was 155,000 tons of that total. Continue reading