The US imported 577,000 tons of propylene polymers through October, 2018, up 39% from the same period in 2017. US exports of these polymers were down 13% through October, to 1.5 million tons.

Imports climbed from July through October, while prices remained fairly steady around $1850/ton through that period.

Polypropylene homopolymer imports totaled 239,000 tons YTD, up 34%. Top suppliers included Korea, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, Canada and Brazil.

Imports of propylene copolymers were 228,000 tons, up 68%, with the largest volumes from Korea, Singapore, Brazil, Netherlands and Germany.

US exports have trended lower for several months. Shipments of homopolymer were down 22% through October, to 776,000 tons on lower volumes to Mexico, Canada, and, especially, China. Despite a steep decline in shipments in recent months, exports YTD of copolymers were off 3%, to 578,000 tons.

From International Trader Publications’ United States Polymer Trade Report – a monthly reports summarizing US imports and exports of all commodity polymers, recycle polymers and leading fabricated plastic products.