U.S. exports of ethane and ethane-based petrochemicals rose 135% from 2014 to 2023

U.S. exports of ethane and ethane-based petrochemicals reached an all-time high of 21.6 million metric tons in 2023, up 135% since the United States began exporting ethane in 2014 and 17% more than in 2022, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. The rapid expansion of U.S. ethane and ethane-based petrochemical exports has been fueled by the growth in domestic ethane production, which has increased with the country’s natural gas production and the buildout of export and production infrastructure.

All elements of the ethane value chain are produced in, consumed in, and exported from the United States, including ethane, ethylene, polyethylene, and other ethylene derivatives. We publish data on U.S. ethane production, exports, and product supplied (deliveries to domestic consumers); the U.S. Census Bureau publishes export data for ethane and ethane-derived products.

The volume of exports of U.S. ethane, ethylene, and various ethylene derivatives is affected by:

• U.S. demand
• U.S. production capacity and production costs
• Importing countries’ downstream processing capacity
• Availability of infrastructure necessary to move these products, which in some cases may require special handling such as cryogenic

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