Tag Archives: India

Korea Increased PE, PP, and Styrenic Polymer Exports in a Difficult Trade Environment in 2024 by Shifting Export Destinations; PVC and PET Shipments Contracted

Competition from China and depressed demand globally made 2024 a particularly challenging year.

In 2024 Korea exported 4.5 million tons of ethylene polymers (all grades), up 1%; 3.8 million tons of propylene polymers, up 9%; 1.9 million tons of styrenic polymers, up 4%; 0.7 million tons of PVC, down 7%; and 0.8 million tons of PET, down 4%.

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Asia-Pacific’s PE, PP, PS, and PVC Trade in 2024: Key Trends, Challenges, and Regional Shifts

The Asia-Pacific region exported sizable volumes of polypropylene, propylene copolymers (PRC), polystyrene, and uncompounded PVC (PVCU) in 2024. Export trends for polyethylene grades were mixed, polypropylene surged on new capacity, styrenic exports were relatively flat, PVC shipments dropped.

With a major impact on global trends, Asia-Pacific continued as the world’s largest regional importer of all grades of polyethylene, but fell to second place for polypropylene and PRC, after Eastern Europe. Import demand in the larger Asia-Pacific markets – China, India, Vietnam, Indonesia – varied by polymer, declining in some, others showing impressive growth.

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Saudi Arabia and UAE Expand Polyethylene Exports in 2024 Despite Trade Challenges

Saudi Arabia exported 10.6 million tons of polyethylene (all grades, partly estimated) in 2024, up 2% from 2023. The UAE shipped 3.8 million tons, up 11%. (UAE does not publish statistics; data is visible from trading partners). Key to the expansions were regional shifts.

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US Dockworkers Strike Would have Impacted Large Volumes of PE and PVC Polymer Exports

The strike begun at midnight, September 30th, by the International Longshoreman’s Association, and ended a few days later, had the potential to disrupt US polymer exports, particularly of polyethylene and PVC, particularly large volumes of which are shipped out of Houston-Galveston, Texas.

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Trends in US Exports of LNG, Liquefied Propane, Ethane, and Butane

Through July, 2024, the United States exported 53.1 million tons of LNG, up 2% from the same period in the prior year. The US also exported large volumes of other gases, some of which are produced during natural gas processing: 28.5 million tons of liquefied propane gas, up 10%, 5.8 million tons of liquefied ethane, down 3%, and 4.8 million tons of liquefied butane gas, down 2%.The US Energy Information Agency says that five new LNG export projects are under construction in the US, with shipments from two projects lilkely to begin at the end of 2024.

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Petrochemical Trade – India’s Adani Group to Add PVC Capacity by 2026 – International Trader Publications

Adani Enterprises reported plans for 2 million tons of new PVC capacity in Mundra, Gujarat, with startup of 1 million tons, in phase one, by December 2026. India’s imports of PVC have trended upward in recent years, hitting a high of 3.2 million tons in 2023. The new PVC plant would be the Adani Group’s, a diversified organization with a world-class transport and utility infrastructure portfolio, first petrochemical venture.

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India is the World’s Top PVC Importer. Volume Jumped 70% in 2023

China continued as India’s leading source but imports from many other suppliers also surged, including Japan, Taiwan, South Korea and the United States.

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Trends in China’s Polyolefin Polymer Trade Through February 2924

Polyethylene polymer import and export volumes were higher versus February YTD 2023, but at depressed prices. Imports of polypropylene were down sharply; low-priced export volumes climbed.

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The Rise and Fall of Global Paraxylene Trade

New para-xylene capacity in China and also in the Middle East and the rationalization of uncompetitive production in the US and Western Europe have massively changed global trade flows.

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Trends in China’s Trade in Commodity Polymers in 2023

China’s imports of commodity polymers as a total of all grades of PE, PP, styrenics, PVC and PET, declined for the third year in a row, a loss of nearly 10 million tons of volume over the 2020-2023 period. Exports of the combined total climbed for the third year in a row, increasing by nearly 7 million tons. Shipments of manufactured products identifiable as plastic showed a small gain of 0.7 million tons in 2023, rising to 16.7 million tons.

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