Ethylene Prices

Chart Description. Intratec provides Ethylene prices in several countries, as follows:

Chart Instructions. Hover the mouse over the series to view the respective Ethylene prices plotted. You can filter a given Ethylene price series by clicking on the respective legend label, right above the chart.

About Ethylene. Ethylene (a.k.a. Ethene, Green Ethylene) is an unsaturated organic compound, the simplest member of the alkene class of hydrocarbons. Even though it has no direct use, being used almost exclusively as a building block, ethylene is largest-volume petrochemical produced worldwide. It has one double bond and, in room temperature, ethene is a sweet odor and taste gas, colorless and extremely flammable. It has been produced since the 1930s; however, its production grew rapidly in the middle of the twentieth century, when oil and chemical companies began separating it from refinery waste gas and producing it from natural gas and ethane (obtained from byproduct refinery streams). Ethylene may also be produced from renewable sources. In such cases, it may be referred to as Bio-Ethylene or Green Ethylene.

Chemical Formula. C2H4

Commercial Grades. Polymer grade (PG) (min. 99.9% purity); technical grade (min. 95% purity)

Uses. Commercial Ethylene major application in the chemical industry is as a raw material for the production of polyethylene and other organic chemicals that are mainly utilized in consumable end uses, especially in packaging. Polyethylene (PE) is responsible for about 60% of the global Ethylene demand. The main class of polyethylene produced in the world is high density polyethylene (HDPE), which is responsible for the consumption of a third of the available Ethylene, followed by low density (LDPE) and linear low density (LLDPE) varieties. Other important products derived from Ethylene are ethylene oxide, an intermediate to ethylene glycol synthesis, ethylene dichloride, styrene, and vinyl acetate. This chemical can also be employed for production of other resins and fibers.

Raw Materials & Production Processes.

• Butane (steam cracking process)
• Hydrous ethanol (dehydration process)
• Methanol (MTO process)
• Methane (OCM process)
• Ethane (steam cracking process, coproduced hydrogen)
• Propane (steam cracking process, coproduced propylene, pygas and crude C4s stream)

To know more about Ethylene production processes, click here.

Derivatives. Acetaldehyde; Acetic acid; Butene; Ethanol; Hexanol; Hexene; Ethylene oxide; Ethylene dichloride; Polyethylene; Styrene; Vinyl acetate

Methodology. The pricing data presented are, if not otherwise indicated, volume-weighted average transaction prices including contract and spot transactions in the locations specified. The information provided is obtained from gathering and refining of trade data officially reported for the respective countries (i.e., governmental agencies, institutions related to foreign trade and industry publications). For further details check our Methodology.