Propylene monomer global trade in 2017 was 8.0 million tons, up 2% from 2016.

In Western Europe, propylene imports in 2017 were up 61%, to 360,000 tons, while exports fell 34%, to 150,000 tons, and intra-regional trade contracted by 2%, to 2.3 million tons. Imports into the region were mainly from Eastern Europe (Serbia/Montenegro, Romania, Bulgaria, Azerbaijan and Latvia top sources), with smaller volumes from North America, Latin America and the Middle East. Supplies from each region were up sharply from the prior year.

North America exported 540,000 tons of propylene in 2017, up 32%, mainly to Latin America, with smaller volumes to Western Europe.

The Middle East shipped over 100,000 tons, down 39%. Although the region’s propylene shipments to Western Europe more doubled, volumes exported there were small and that gain was more than offset by much lower exports to Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe.

From International Trader Publications’ Propylene World Trade Report – a continuously updated on line analysis of trade trends between countries and regions, based on latest import/export statistics from 49 key countries.