EU ethylene exports and propylene imports were up for the first seven months of the year due to increased used of propane and butane as feedstocks by steam crackers, recent Eurostat data showed.
Ethylene exports for the January-July period were at 139,895 mt, almost three times the amount for the same period last year. Ethylene imports, meanwhile, were down to 151,218 mt from 231,254 mt last year.
Propylene imports were up 23% to 154,315 mt for the January-July period compared with same period last year. Exports were marginally higher compared with the previous year.
Also, LPG cracking was adding length to the ethylene market, given that ethylene yields from LPG are higher than those from naphtha. This, in turn, limited propylene production.
Hydrocarbons like naphtha and LPG are used in a steam cracker to produce ethylene and propylene.
Naphtha, butane and propane were assessed at $837/mt CIF NWE, $721/mt and $706/mt, respectively, on Friday.
In the polyethylene market, a similar picture was seen to ethylene. PE exports for the January-July period were up 3% year on year to 1,208,750 mt. PE imports were down 12% year on year to 1,444,504 mt.
There was, however, variance in the grades. High density PE exports were down 6% year on year to 598,590 mt; imports, meanwhile were up 2.6% to 666,541 mt. Linear low density PE exports were down 3% to 85,718 mt, and imports were also down 26% to 478,949 mt. LDPE exports were up 17% to 524,442 mt, while imports were down 13% to 299,014 mt.
A similar picture was seen in polypropylene as in feedstock propylene imports. PP imports were up to 439,338 mt for the January-July period, up 3.8% year on year. PP exports, however, were down to 472,560 mt for the January-July period, down 13% year on year.
