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Who buys the United States’ polyethylene? Export destinations 2024

In 2024, the United States exported $16.5 billion of polyethylene (13.8 million tonnes), 19.4% of the world total. Its main destinations were China (17%), Mexico (13%) and Brazil (10%). The United States was the world’s largest exporter of polyethylene.

Summary

Value
$16.5billion
Tonnes
13.8million tonnes
Share of world total
19.4%
World rank
1st
Routes to the main destinations. Width: value; color: estimated transport mode.SeaAirLand

Destinations

The 20 main destinations in the latest year.

PartnerValue (USD billions)TonnesUSD per tonneShareMode
China2.8Tonnes: 2,576,356USD per tonne: $1,07616.8%Sea
Mexico2.2Tonnes: 1,886,324USD per tonne: $1,17313.4%Land
Brazil1.7Tonnes: 1,408,140USD per tonne: $1,17210%Sea
Canada1.4Tonnes: 982,835USD per tonne: $1,3798.2%Land
Belgium re-exports0.9Tonnes: 496,360USD per tonne: $1,8065.4%Sea
Malaysia0.54Tonnes: 625,948USD per tonne: $8613.3%Sea
Turkey0.53Tonnes: 482,194USD per tonne: $1,1073.2%Sea
Colombia0.43Tonnes: 387,116USD per tonne: $1,1102.6%Sea
India0.41Tonnes: 330,515USD per tonne: $1,2522.5%Sea
Spain0.32Tonnes: 312,668USD per tonne: $1,0221.9%Sea
Peru0.27Tonnes: 231,997USD per tonne: $1,1551.6%Sea
United Kingdom0.26Tonnes: 223,857USD per tonne: $1,1731.6%Sea
Guatemala0.26Tonnes: 177,036USD per tonne: $1,4681.6%Sea
Vietnam0.26Tonnes: 269,662USD per tonne: $9531.6%Sea
Italy0.25Tonnes: 238,198USD per tonne: $1,0471.5%Sea
Singapore re-exports0.24Tonnes: 227,944USD per tonne: $1,0571.5%Sea
Germany0.21Tonnes: 113,724USD per tonne: $1,8871.3%Sea
Chile0.19Tonnes: 183,039USD per tonne: $1,0271.1%Sea
Argentina0.18Tonnes: 125,359USD per tonne: $1,4531.1%Sea
South Korea0.17Tonnes: 126,027USD per tonne: $1,3721.1%Sea

Trend

Who it sells to

China has been its main destination since 2023

Value in USD billions. The five largest destinations in 2024.

  • China 2.8
  • Mexico 2.2
  • Brazil 1.7
  • Canada 1.4
  • Belgium 0.9

Source: CEPII BACI

Show the numbers
Partner19952024
China0.182.8
Mexico0.262.2
Brazil0.071.7
Canada0.311.4
Belgium0.040.9

Sources and methodology

Other products of this country

Sources and licenses

Methodology

Goods trade from CEPII BACI (BACI_HS92_V202601), which reconciles what exporters and importers report: countries that stopped reporting (Russia since 2022) appear with their partners’ data. FOB values in current US dollars; tonnes when BACI reports them. The price per tonne is the value of the rows with a weight divided by that weight. The transport mode is our own estimate based on value per kilo and geography. Data up to 2024.

Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Belgium re-export goods from other countries: their figures include transit.

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