IndexBox has just published a new report: ‘China – Ethers – Market Analysis, Forecast, Size, Trends and Insights’. Here is a summary of the report’s key findings.

China’s import volume of ethers jumped from 1.2M tonnes in 2019 to 2M tonnes in 2020. In value terms, imports reached $1.3B. Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and Qatar dominate the Chinese imports, supplying 55% of the total volume. Last year, all these three countries ramped up their ether exports to China significantly. The average ether import price stood at $664 per tonne in 2020, dropping by -31.3% y-o-y.

China’s Ether Imports by Country

In 2020, the volume of ethers imported into China surged to 2M tonnes, increasing by +58% compared with the year before. In value terms, ether imports rose by +8.7% to $1.3B (IndexBox estimates) in 2020.

In 2020, Saudi Arabia (654K tonnes) constituted the largest ether supplier to China, accounting for a 33% share of total imports. Moreover, ether imports from Saudi Arabia exceeded the figures recorded by the second-largest supplier, Taiwan (Chinese) (209K tonnes), threefold. Qatar (199K tonnes) occupied the third position in this ranking, with a 10% share.

In 2020, Saudi Arabia increased exports to China by +38.8% y-o-y. Chinese ether purchases from Taiwan rose by +15.5% y-o-y, while Qatar’s supplies to China grew from 86K tonnes in 2019 to 199K tonnes in 2020.

In value terms, Saudi Arabia ($328M) constituted the largest ether supplier to China, comprising 25% of total imports. The second position in the ranking was occupied by Taiwan (Chinese) ($113M), with an 8.6% share of total imports. It was followed by South Korea, with a 7.4% share.

The average ether import price stood at $664 per tonne in 2020, reducing by -31.3% against the previous year. Prices varied noticeably by the country of origin; the country with the highest price was India, while the price for the United Arab Emirates was amongst the lowest. In 2020, the most notable rate of growth in terms of prices was attained by South Korea, while the prices for the other major suppliers experienced a decline.

Source: IndexBox Platform