According to data from the US International Trade Commission seen by SSESSMENTS.COM, US ethylene exports increased 43% to 123,752 tons in the January-April period, from 86,515 tons in the same period last year. According to the data, exports in January reached 37,350 tons, with Taiwan and Indonesia receiving 92% of them. Exports dropped to 36,498 tons in February, then to 25,800 tons and 24,104 tons in the two following months due to the coronavirus.
The increase reflects exports from the new terminal along the Houston Ship Channel, which is owned by Enterprise Products Partners. The new terminal shipped its first ethylene cargo on January 2. The terminal currently has a capacity of 600,000 tons/year, but it will reach a full capacity of 1 million tons/year when a cryogenic storage facility enters service in this year’s fourth quarter.
As SSESSMENTS.COM noted, Targa Resources’ 300,000 tons/year terminal was the only ethylene export facility in the US before Enterprise’s new terminal’s startup. The 2019 data reflected exports from this facility as the new one had not come online yet. Last year, US ethylene exports totalled 289,107 tons.
