Navigator Gas and Enterprise Products Partners may expand the capacity of its joint venture ethylene export terminal at the Houston Ship Channel if outflows continue growing, said Henry Deans, the Chief Executive of Navigator. He said that the companies would need more money to expand the terminal if export volumes ramped up as anticipated.
Navigator and Enterprise have exported more than 300,000 tons of ethylene from the terminal after sending the first cargo in January. US ethylene exports surged 118% year-on-year to 452,825 tons in the first nine months of 2020, mostly thanks to the new terminal. In September, China was the largest export market for US ethylene during the period, receiving about 34,936 tons, followed by Belgium (6,717 tons) and Taiwan (4,538 tons).
According to Navigator CFO Oeyvind Linderman, the terminal reached a utilization rate of more than 90% during the summer months. It is expected to reach a nameplate capacity of 1 million tons/year in December after the startup of a refrigerated tank which is currently under construction.
