Strong Expansion in Liquefied Propane Gas Global Trade in 2018

The volume of liquefied propane gas (LPG) traded globally in 2018 was up 11% from 2017, to 78 million tons, based on latest available data.

Middle East exports jumped 23%, to 24 million tons, propane shipped almost entirely to markets in Asia-Pacific, mainly China, Japan, Indonesia and Taiwan. Leading exporters were UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Iran and Kuwait.

Note: Although Iran reported LPG exports to China of 2.5 million tons, China’s statistics showed no imports from Iran. China reported UAE and Qatar as its top Middle Eastern suppliers.

LPG exports from North America (US) grew 13% in 2018, to 28 million tons, with shipments in December setting a new record. Exports to Latin America were up 21%, to 9.7 million tons. Shipments to Western Europe surged 44%, to 3.6 million tons. Against Middle East competition, US exports to Asia-Pacific rose 2%, to 13.8 million tons.

From International Trader Publications’ Liquefied Propane Gas World Trade Report, an online Report capturing nearly all of the world’s trade in liquefied propane gas.