The volume of ethylene polymer traded globally expanded by 12% through May 2019 versus the same period in the prior year, to over 26 million tons based on ITP’s analysis of most current available statistics for all polyethylene grades.

By comparison, ethylene polymer PE trade volume in 2018 was up 6.6% from 2017.

The accelerated rate of growth in 2019 reflected, among other factors, new capacity in the United States and record high imports into China.

Among the major grades, global trade in ethylene-alpha-olefins copolymers, which is primarily linear low density polymer, showed the highest rate of growth, up 27%, followed by HDPE, up 13%, and conventional high pressure LDPE, up 7%.

From International Trader Publications’ World Trade Reports, continuously updated analysis of global trade in all polyethylene grades.