Tag Archives: EU

Liquefied Propane Gas Global Trade Continues Expanding and Adapting to Shifting Market Dynamics

LPG global trade expanded each year over the 2020 to 2024 period and continued through April 2025. Rising US exports, increasing demand globally for LPG as a petrochemical feedstock and a cleaner fuel, and the ban on EU imports from Russia were key market drivers.

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US Ethanol Exports to Benefit from Trade Deal with the UK

On May 8, 2025 the US announced the first country-specific trade deal from among the many that are currently under negotiation. Details have yet to be finalized, but one provision to be included is tariff-free quotas for ethanol imports into the UK from the US.

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China Imposes Anti-dumping Duties on Imports of Polyacetals from US, EU, Japan, and Taiwan

On May 18, 2025 China set a rate of 74.9% on imports of polyacetals from the US, 34.5% on imports from EU, and varying rates on imports from Japan and Taiwan. Imports from Japan were set a duty of 35.5%, except for Asahi Kasei, with a company-specific rate of 24.5%; imports from Taiwan were at 32.6%, except for Formosa Plastics, at 4%, and Polyplastics, at 3.8%.

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LNG Trade Between the US and China: Tariffs, US Export Markets, China’s Import Sources

As of February 4th, 2025, the US imposed a 10% tariff on all imports from China. Part of China’s response was to levy a 15% tariff on LNG imports from the US, to go into effect February 10th. In 2024, China reported 4.3 million tons of LNG imports from US; the US reported 6.0 million tons of exports to China, a difference of 1.7 million tons.

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Western Europe’s PE, PP, PS and PVC Trade in 2024: Key Trends, Challenges, and Regional Shifts

Weak demand, competition in export markets and imports from other regions were reflected in Western Europe’s trade in polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene and PVC in 2024.

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Petrochemical Trade – Turkey Aims to Accelerate Free Trade Negotiations with the GCC, Potentially Impacting 1.8 Million Tons of Polyolefin Imports – International Trader Publications

Turkey imported 668,000 tons of polyethylene and 1.1 million tons of polypropylene from the GCC in 2023. The duty rate was 6.5% on virtually all grades.

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Trends in Recyclable Polypropylene Trade, and Proposed Changes to the Harmonized System (HS)

The volume of recyclable polypropylene that can be identified as traded globally was 862,000 tons in 2023, up 25% from 2022. Western Europe accounted for more than half of the total, based on available statistics.

Global trade volume is currently understated because statistics specifically for recyclable PP are available only for 52 countries. Other countries combine recyclable PP with recyclable PET and other polymers, excluding recyclable PE, styrenics and PVC, that are identified separately. If interested, this can potentially be changed by an appeal to the World Customs Organization.

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EU Debates Possible Ban on Imports of Synthetic Rubber from Russia

Although not definite, a ban on imports of synthetic rubber from Russia is being discussed by the EU. If enacted, this could impact EU imports of butadiene, isoprene and styrene-butadiene rubber.

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EU Bans Imports of Most Polymers from Russia

On October 6, 2022 the EU placed additional sanctions on almost 7 billion Euro’s worth of imports from Russia. These included most polymers.

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