The Middle East is the world’s largest polypropylene exporting region. The conflict in the region, now entering its second month, continues to restrict not only exports of polymer but also of feedstocks. Global trends in 2026 will likely be vastly altered from the past, with tight supplies, higher prices and a massive restructuring of trade routes.

The ITP Indicator of global trade volume measures imports/exports, plus intra-regional trade. The Indicator showed 22.7 million tons of polypropylene homopolymer traded in 2025, up 4% from 2024. The downward trend visible in 2022 and 2023, as China’s expanding domestic capacity reduced imports, was reversed in 2024 and 2025 as imports increased into Africa, Latin America and other regions.

An article by Argus in mid-2025 noted that China planned to add more polypropylene capacity, likely accounting for half of global capacity in 2034. This expansion, however, and China’s ability to fill in for any of the lost Middle East material, will likely be restricted in the near term by a shortage of propane, most of which China imports from the Middle East and the US.

PP Homopolymer exports from the Middle East of 5.5 million tons in 2025 accounted for nearly half of the world’s total exports of 11.5 million tons. These were down from 6.1 million tons in 2021, largely because of reduced shipments to China.

Africa and Latin America were particularly strong growth import markets over the period.

From International Trader Publications’ Polypropylene World Trade Analysis, a continuously updated analysis of global trade, based on latest statistics from all available countries.