Ethylene Dichloride (EDC) & Vinyl Chloride Monomer (VCM)

The two chlor-vinyl intermediates between chlorine, ethylene and PVC, by the chemical-tanker and gas-carrier parcel

Ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride monomer are the two intermediates of the chlor-vinyl chain. Chlorine and ethylene are combined into EDC (1,2-dichloroethane), EDC is cracked into VCM and hydrogen chloride, and VCM is polymerised into PVC. Integrated producers make all three, but the chain is rarely balanced at every site, so merchant EDC moves from chlor-alkali producers with surplus chlorine to VCM plants, and merchant VCM moves from crackers with spare capacity to stand-alone PVC polymerisers. EDC is bought at 99.9% purity with limits on water, acidity and iron, and is a colourless flammable liquid: UN 1184, ethylene dichloride, Class 3, packing group II, carried on IMO chemical tankers under the IBC Code. VCM is bought at 99.9% or higher with limits on water, acetylene, iron and acidity, and is shipped as a liquefied gas: UN 1086, vinyl chloride, stabilized, Class 2.1, carried on gas carriers under the IGC Code, which lists vinyl chloride as a ship type 2G/2PG cargo. Both are toxic and carcinogenic and are handled only at terminals built for them. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 2903.15 (EDC) total USD 823 million and about 2.0 million MT across 32 reporters: the USA USD 175 million and 746,000 MT, Germany USD 164 million and 461,000 MT, Saudi Arabia USD 142 million and 416,000 MT, Belgium USD 130 million, the Republic of Korea USD 87 million, Indonesia USD 79 million and 295,000 MT, Norway USD 13 million and 36,000 MT, Sweden USD 11 million and Japan USD 9 million. Japan's vinyl chloride exports were about 1 million MT and USD 592 million in 2024 (IndexBox from customs data). Those are declared export values, not offers.

The buyer is a PVC plant taking VCM, a VCM plant taking EDC, or a trader covering a turnaround, and the seller is a named producer with a named load terminal; US Gulf plants carry most of the merchant volume. Pricing is per MT against ICIS or Platts EDC and VCM assessments, FOB the load terminal or CFR the receiving terminal, and the freight leg is a chemical-tanker or gas-carrier fixture on its own. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers EDC and VCM against the producer's certificate of analysis, the safety data sheet, a certificate of origin and SGS or Intertek inspection at load, with a named load terminal and a named receiving terminal on both sides; no offer is worked on tank-storage receipts, dip tests or advance-fee procedures. The tanker or gas carrier is chartered through our shipbroking desk, LaycanDesk (laycandesk.com/chartering). Send the product, purity, parcel size, receiving terminal and delivery window.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.