Ethylene

Polymer-grade ethylene by the refrigerated gas-carrier parcel

Ethylene (HS 2901.21) is the largest-volume olefin and most of it never leaves the pipeline grid it is made on; the seaborne trade is the surplus that a terminal can refrigerate and load. Polymer grade is the traded specification: Chevron Phillips Chemical guarantees 99.9% minimum purity with acetylene, carbon dioxide and water each held to single-digit ppm and ethane under 500 ppm, because polyethylene catalysts are poisoned by those impurities. It is UN 1038, ethylene, refrigerated liquid, Class 2.1 flammable gas. Carriage by sea is at about -104 °C in semi-refrigerated gas carriers with special alloyed steel tanks, and the IGC Code treats ethylene carriers as type 2G ships. The largest single export point is the Enterprise and Navigator joint-venture terminal at Morgan's Point on the Houston Ship Channel: a 30,000 MT refrigerated tank took it to 1 million MT a year of nameplate capacity, and an expansion completed in late December 2024 tripled instantaneous refrigeration from 125 to 375 tons per hour. UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 2901.21 are led by Korea at USD 1.54 billion and 1.85 million MT, the Netherlands at USD 1.05 billion and 0.98 million MT, the USA at USD 568 million, the United Kingdom at USD 544 million, Japan at USD 439 million and 0.53 million MT, Malaysia at USD 282 million and 0.34 million MT, Singapore at USD 280 million, Germany at USD 255 million and France and Belgium at about USD 150 million each.

The buyer is a derivative plant with its own cryogenic import tank: a polyethylene, ethylene oxide and glycol, EDC/VCM, styrene or alpha-olefin producer in Asia or Europe whose cracker is short or down for turnaround. Cargoes are sized to the ethylene carrier and the buyer's tank, and pricing is per MT against ICIS or Platts ethylene assessments, CFR the discharge region or FOB the export terminal. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers ethylene against the producer's or terminal's certificate of quality, SGS or Intertek quantity and quality inspection at load, the safety data sheet and a certificate of origin, with a named terminal and laycan on the seller's side and a named receiving terminal on the buyer's; the gas carrier is chartered through our shipbroking desk, LaycanDesk (laycandesk.com/chartering/lpg-lng-gas-carrier). Send the grade, cargo 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.