Western Europe moved into first place in 2018 as the world’s largest exporter of ethylene monomer, ahead of the Middle East, North America and Latin America.
Continue readingTag Archives: Eastern Europe
Trends in Western Europe’s Trade in Propylene
The balanced nature of the propylene market in Western Europe in 2018 was evident in the region’s trade, with intra-regional trade up slightly from the prior year and declines on both imports and exports.
Continue readingTrends in Western Europe’s Trade in Butadiene
Western Europe is the world’s largest exporter of butadiene, shipping nearly 500,000 tons in 2018, up 14% partly on a jump in exports to North America.
Continue readingGlobal Methacrylates Trade up 6% in 2018
Over 1.4 million tons of methacrylates was traded globally in 2018, up 6% from 2017. The Middle East became the world’s largest methacrylates exporting region, surpassing North America and Western Europe.
Continue readingRegional Shifts in US Exports of Linear Low Density Polyethylene
Two main factors – the startup of new capacity plus tariffs on exports to China – have resulted in large regional shifts in US exports of linear PE. Exports have increased to all regions but especially to Western and Eastern Europe, and combined shipments to those regions now exceed those to Asia-Pacific.
Global LNG Trade Projected Up 14% in 2018
A 14% increase in global LNG trade in 2018, to 318 million tons of imports and exports, is forecast by ITP based on the latest available statistics. This follows an 8% increase in global trade in 2017 versus 2016.
Polyethylene Global Trade Volume Projected up 5% for 2018
ITP projects global trade volume in 2018 of 62 million tons in all polymers of ethylene (LDPE/LLDPE, HDPE, EAOC, Copolymers and EVA), up 5% from 2017. This compares with an increase of 7% in 2017 versus 2016. The trend in global trade volume generally indicates the trend in world demand.
Western Europe Exported 2.4 Times as Much Recycle PE in 2017 as Did North America
Although virgin polyethylene production capacity is similar in both regions, Western Europe exported 1.4 million tons of recycle polyethylene in 2017, compared with 0.6 million tons exported by from North America.
Shipments in 2017 from both regions were mainly to Asia-Pacific, although 220,000 tons of its total was shipped by Western Europe to Eastern Europe. Exports from both Western Europe and North America declined versus 2016, by 15% and 9%, respectively.
As of January 2018, China’s imports of R-PE have virtually disappeared. Although R-PE imports into Vietnam, Malaysia, Turkey and other countries have been rising, their imports to date are much smaller than China’s. Because of the previous size of Western Europe’s R-PE exports, that region will likely be impacted by the loss of the Chinese market to a greater degree than will North America.
From International Trader Publications’ Recycle Polyethylene World Trade Review – a continuously updated on line analysis of trade trends between countries and regions, based on latest import/export statistics from 46 countries.
Trends in LNG Global Trade in 2017.
LNG global trade in 2017 was 280 million tons, up 8%.
Trends in Butadiene Global Trade in 2017
Butadiene global trade in 2017 was 2.7 million tons, up 7% from 2016.