chemical · input
Primary petrochemical building block for all polyethylene; produced by steam cracking of ethane (US preferred) or naphtha (Asia/Europe preferred); 2021 Winter Storm Uri freeze disabled ~40% of US ethylene production for 2-4 weeks, cascading into PE and downstream plastic product shortages
5
Source countries
7
Companies
1
Goods affected
0
Claims on record
What depends on it
1 essential American goods rely on ethylene monomer (polymer grade) somewhere upstream in their supply chain.
Where it comes from
Share of global supply, by country.
| Country | Share of supply |
|---|---|
| CNChina | 35% |
| USUnited States | 22% |
| SASaudi Arabia | 10% |
| KRSouth Korea | 5% |
| DEGermany | 4% |
Who makes it
7 companies produce ethylene monomer (polymer grade).
One of the world's largest polyethylene producers; pioneered LLDPE (DOWLEX™) and metallocene PE (ELITE™, AFFINITY™); Packaging & Specialty Plastics segment is Dow's largest by revenue (~$23B of ~$45B total); major supplier of PE resins to Berry Global, Reynolds, and other bag converters.
ExxonMobil Chemical Company (Spring, Texas; NYSE: XOM; chemical segment ~$12B revenue) produces Vistalon EPDM at its Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Baytown, Texas complexes — two of the world's largest integrated petrochemical sites. Vistalon EPDM holds an estimated 12-15% global market share. ExxonMobil's ethylene and propylene feedstock integration at its Gulf Coast facilities provides a cost structure advantage for EPDM production. Vistalon is used in automotive seals, roofing membranes, wire insulation, and plumbing and water system gaskets. ExxonMobil also produces Butyl rubber (Butyl IIR) and other specialty elastomers from the same Gulf Coast facilities — the same sites producing vehicle fuel also produce the rubber seals used in plumbing systems.
Major NGL midstream operator; holds NGL salt cavern storage at Mont Belvieu, TX. Targa's Grand Prix NGL pipeline brings Permian Basin NGL production to Mont Belvieu for fractionation and storage. 518,000 b/d fractionation capacity. Cedar Bayou Fractionator at Baytown TX was flooded during Hurricane Harvey 2017. The integrated storage-fractionation-export complex at Mont Belvieu represents the core of Targa's infrastructure value.
US refining, midstream, chemicals, and marketing company (NYSE: PSX, HQ Houston TX); spun off from ConocoPhillips in 2012. Gulf Coast facilities: Sweeny TX (247,000 bpd) and Lake Charles LA (255,000 bpd). Phillips 66 Partners LP (midstream MLP) owns pipelines and terminals feeding crude to its refineries, including the Gray Oak Pipeline (Permian Basin crude to Texas Gulf Coast) and Liberty Pipeline (Rockies crude). The Sweeny refinery includes an 835,000 bpd fractionation hub that also processes NGL from shale formations — same facility handles both crude refining and NGL processing.
Major US petrochemical company (JV between Chevron and Phillips 66); produces ethyl mercaptan at Borger, TX and Tessenderlo, Belgium (Tessenderlo expanded 65% in 2017). Ethyl mercaptan is part of a broader organosulfur chemicals portfolio including methyl mercaptan, DMDS (dimethyl disulfide), and specialty sulfur chemicals. Applications: gas odorization, polymer modifiers, agricultural chemicals, pharmaceuticals, water purification, and lubricant additives. Tessenderlo capacity expansion noted by Hydrocarbon Processing (2017). Also the world's leading polyethylene producer (Cedar Bayou, TX cracker complex).
LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (Rotterdam Netherlands; NYSE: LYB; ~$40B revenue; world's largest polyolefin producer by volume) produces meltblown-grade PP resins under its Moplen and Adflex brand families. LyondellBasell's Spheripol and Spherizone PP polymerization technologies enable production of specialty high-MFR grades with controlled molecular weight distribution for meltblown fiber production. LyondellBasell's Channelview TX, La Porte TX, and Rotterdam Netherlands PP plants are primary meltblown-grade production sites. LyondellBasell also produces metallocene-catalyzed PP grades (Metocene series) that compete with Ziegler-Natta-based meltblown resins by offering tighter molecular weight control. LyondellBasell holds an estimated 18-22% of global meltblown PP resin supply and is the most geographically diversified meltblown PP producer, with production across the US, Netherlands, Germany, and Italy.
Formosa Plastics Corporation (Taipei Taiwan; TWSE: 1301; part of Formosa Plastics Group; ~NT$500B revenue) is one of the world's largest PP producers with a significant US manufacturing presence at Point Comfort TX (on Matagorda Bay, Gulf Coast). Formosa's Point Comfort complex includes a world-scale PP plant (capacity ~1.0 million tonnes/year) and an ethylene cracker. Formosa produces specialty PP grades including high-MFR grades suitable for meltblown nonwoven production for US and export markets. The Point Comfort site is Formosa's largest North American manufacturing facility and serves as the supply hub for US meltblown PP. Formosa Plastics Group companies also operate PP plants in Taiwan (Mailiao refinery complex), Vietnam, and Texas. Total PP production capacity across the group exceeds 3 million tonnes/year. Formosa contributed meltblown-grade PP to US domestic PPE manufacturers during COVID shortages.
