The Latin American Import Market for Polyethylene

In 2016, Latin America, including Mexico, imported 4 million tons of ethylene polymers from other regions, primarily North America. Import volume was down 3% from 2015.

North America supplied 3.4 million tons of Latin America’s import total in 2016, up 2%. The small increase reflected moderately higher volumes of LDPE and HDPE, no change in ethylene copolymers and a moderate decline in LLDPE volumes.

The remainder of Latin America’s imports came mainly from the Middle East,  Asia-Pacific and Western Europe. Imports of LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE and copolymer from the Middle East and Asia-Pacific all were down sharply in 2016 versus 2015; imports from Western Europe were mixed, with higher volumes of LDPE, LLDPE and copolymers, but a decline on HDPE.

From International Trader Publications’: World Trade Reports on LDPE, LLDPE, HDPE and Ethylene Copolymers.