AsianFin -- Despite ongoing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, China's ethane imports from the U.S. are expected to surge in 2025 as major petrochemical companies turn to the cheaper feedstock amid shrinking profit margins.

Leading firms such as Satellite Chemical, China Sanjiang Fine Chemical, and Wanhua Chemical Group are collectively investing over $16 billion in building ethane crackers, upgrading plants, expanding storage capacity, and constructing Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs) to transport the liquefied gas.

The two primary constraints on growth in the U.S.-China ethane trade remain limited U.S. export capacity and a shortage of specialized tankers. Currently, nearly all of China's ethane imports originate from the United States.

Industry analysts project that China's ethane imports in 2025 will range between 6.3 million and 8.2 million metric tons, marking an estimated 9% to 34% increase from previous levels. However, official government data on ethane imports remains unavailable.