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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/53382745

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China’s desperation for raw materials to make plastics has driven US ethane exports to record levels, even as the two countries are locked in disputes over everything from Iran to semiconductors.

The Iran war has disrupted oil supplies around the world, leading to a shortage of the petrochemical feedstock naphtha, made from crude and produced in the Middle East.

The shortage has pushed refineries in China, the largest plastics manufacturer in the world, to import more ethane, a cheaper alternative and an abundant byproduct of US natural gas production, to help make everything from water bottles to car parts.

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    • Jiggle_Physics@quokk.auEnglish
      2·
      1 day ago

      China is currently struggling with raw materials for plastics production

      this can be true while having the upper hand in industrial product, and things like rare earths, and sulfuric acid. Trade is a super complex chaotic system where two opposing things can be true at once.

    • Hotznplotzn@lemmy.sdf.orgOPEnglish
      1·
      1 day ago

      U.S. exports of ethane to China have been steadily rising since the outbreak of the pandemic, from less than 10,000 barrel per day at the beginning of the pandemic 2020 to well beyond 400,000 barrel per day now in 2026. And the Iran war gave it an additional boost as the article also says.