Brazil 1Q PE imports hint at shifting trade patterns

Market: Petrochemicals
25/04/25

Brazilian polyethylene (PE) imports totaled 459,173t in the first quarter of 2025, down 20.3pc when compared with the 515,063t imported during the same period in 2024.

The five major PE exporters to Brazil during the first quarter of 2025 were the US, Argentina, Canada, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Leading the pack, the US shipped 310,861t, a 9pc year-on-year decrease. The decline is expected to continue in the second quarter as Brazilian buyers are avoiding any risk coming from the uncertainties caused by US president Donald Trump's tariffs.

Argentina followed with 65,025t, a 9pc increase compared with a year earlier, showing that buyers are increasingly looking for different sources for the resin.

One source in Argentina confirmed to Argus that the local PE producer is running at higher rates and exporting to Brazil all of the excess that could not be absorbed internally in Argentina.

Canada, with shipments of 19,379t, down by 40pc, and Saudi Arabia with 10,541t, a volume 47pc lower than the first quarter of 2024, also lost market share.

Imports from Egypt grew significantly to 8,993t in the first quarter, up from 342t in the same period in 2024. Egyptian PE does not pay 20pc import taxes when entering Brazil.

Egypt's percentage growth in the Brazilian PE market was followed by Mexico, with a 664pc increase in shipments, possibly intra-company exports from Brazil's resin manufacturer Braskem's subsidiary in Mexico, and by the Netherlands, with shipments up by 278pc year-on-year at 4,046t.

The trade shifts in the first quarter could show the start of a change in trade dynamics in the Brazilian PE market following disruptions caused by Trump's tariff policies announced on 2 April.

By Fred Fernandes

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Repsol sees Spanish refineries back to normal in a week

30/04/25

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30/04/25

Repsol sees Spanish refineries back to normal in a week

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