Dow CEO: U.S. polyethylene exports are slowly approaching pre-pandemic levels

U.S. polyethylene (PE) exports have almost recovered to pre-pandemic levels, although logistical and supply chain hurdles remain, said Dow Chemical Company CEO Fettling.

Fitlin was speaking at an energy conference. U.S. PE exports have reached about 35% of domestic production, he said, close to 40% of the outflow in March 2020 before the shutdowns caused demand and squeezed exports.

By the beginning of last year, U.S. PE exports had basically recovered. The severe cold in mid-February last year forced petrochemical companies to suspend production on a large scale for several weeks, resulting in depletion of inventories. U.S. PE producers also reduced PE exports last summer to replenish inventories through August and September, which are typically the most hurricane-prone months in the U.S.

According to data released by the US International Trade Commission, the United States exported 6 million tons of PE in 2020, and PE exports in 2021 fell by 18% to 4.98 million tons.

Data show that in the first three months of this year, the United States exported nearly 1.48 million tons of PE, a slight increase from 1.47 million tons in the first quarter of last year, but a 10% drop from 1.64 million tons before the epidemic in the first quarter of 2020.

"It's uneven, but we're already seeing improvements in the supply chain and our ability to export PE from the U.S.," Fitlin said. "It's like we're back to where we were in March 2020, which I think is a good sign. .”

U.S. resin exports have been hampered by the influx of containerized imports, leading to a shortage of truck drivers, market participants said. It also resulted in packaged resins stuck in warehouses, waiting to be loaded into empty containers and then shipped to ports for shipment.

Fitlin said that PE demand is still growing, reaching 1.3-1.5 times GDP, and domestic PE consumption in the United States has increased by 7%-8% over the same period last year. This demand comes from packaging, lightweight vehicles, plastic casings for 5G infrastructure cables, and the construction and packaging of health and beauty products as employees return to the office.

Higher energy and raw material costs are being passed on to consumers, he said. The Dow Chemical Company has been watching these dynamics, especially how long prices can stay at current levels and when prices will suck up demand.

Fitlin said that the increase of 7 cents per pound in the US domestic PE price in June is still undetermined, and in Europe, the PE price in April has risen by 50 euros per ton.