Tag Archives: Turkey

UAE Polyethylene and Polypropylene Exports Are Projected to Decline in 2025, with Losses in Asia-Pacific Only Partly Offset by Gains in Eastern Europe, Africa, and Latin America; Historic Data Shows Major Re-Exports

UAE exports of polyethylene (all grades) are projected at 3.8 million tons yearend 2025, down 1%; polypropylene, 1.6 million tons, down 6% (based on import statistics from all available publishing countries, as the UAE does not publish timely statistics). The latest export data for UAE, for 2023 (from UN Comtrade), shows much lower exports out of UAE than is reported by trading partners as imports from UAE as the country of origin.

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US Polyethylene Exports Shift to Other Regions, Offsetting Lower Volumes to Asia-Pacific

The US exported 9.1 million tons of polyethylene (all grades combined) through July 2025, up 5% from the same period in 2024. Trade with Asia-Pacific slowed, but there were strong gains to Eastern Europe and Africa and moderate increases to Western Europe and Latin America. Average prices remained depressed.

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The US Eyes Tougher Sanctions on Countries Importing Iranian Petrochemicals

While US sanctions currently target specific companies that facilitate exports of Iranian oil, Washington is weighing a broader move: sanctions on countries that import Iranian petrochemicals. This potential escalation could impact ethylene glycol, methanol, polyethylene, and liquefied butane and propane gases, among others, with wide-ranging implications for global trade flows. Iranian export statistics show China as the largest destination for these products. Volumes do not, however, correlate with China’s import statistics.

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Eastern Europe’s ABS, SAN, Polyacetal, Polycarbonate, PMMA and PET Trade in 2024: Key Trends and Regional Shifts

Eastern Europe shipped substantially higher volumes of PET in 2024, mainly on trade with Western Europe. Smaller volume exports of ABS also were up, Asia-Pacific trade accounting for the growth. Exports of SAN, Polyacetal, PC and PMMA contracted.

The region was the world’s largest importing region for ABS and SAN, and the second largest for PC and PMMA. Imports of all of the engineering polymers were up in 2024.

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Global Trade in Recyclable Polyethylene Slowed in 2023 and 2024

Global trade in recyclable PE contracted slightly in 2024, to 2.9 million tons, off 1% from 2023. This followed a 3% decline in 2023 versus 2022. Turkey was the world’s largest importer of recyclable PE; imports picked up in 2024 as the average price fell.

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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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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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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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