Trade curbs on China send US ethane prices sliding
China is a major buyer of American ethane, a natural gas derivative used to make plastics. © Reuters
RIONA GOMI
TOKYO -- Ethane prices in the U.S. have tumbled on expectations that Washington's restrictions on exports of the petrochemical feedstock to China will result in oversupply.
If Chinese manufacturers increase purchases of naphtha as an alternative, prices of that chemical could rise in Asia.
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