Ethene (Ethylene) – Uses, Prices, and Production

This blog is the twenty-eighth in a series of blogs I plan to write providing use, price, and production data on high-use inorganic and organic chemicals.  Click here to see the first blog in this series and a list of chemicals to be featured.  This blog provides data on ethene.  The primary purpose of these blogs is to present estimates of recent price, production, and sales revenues for the chemicals.  The last blog in this series will compare price, production, and sales revenues data for all the chemicals.  

Uses.  Uses of ethene include: 

• As a feed-stock for producing polyethylene and other polymers;
• As a feed-stock for producing chemicals;
• In promoting crop growth;
• In glass production;
• As an anesthetic;
• As a fuel in metal cutting and welding;
• As refrigerant; and
• In extraction of rubber 

Prices.  Ethene prices in 2019 depend on whether ethene was produced from crude oil’s naphtha or from natural gas’s ethane.   2019 average ethene prices produced from naphtha was found to be in the $950 per metric ton (mt) range.   2019 average ethene prices produced from ethane was found to be in the $350 per mt range. 

Production.  From the internet, estimated 2019 global production of ethene is in the 150 to 170 million mt range.  

Internet sources suggest that in 2019 approximately one-half of ethene was produced from naphtha and approximated one-half from ethane.   Therefore an average price of $650 (($950 + $350)/2)) is used in the next paragraph to compute 2019 ethene revenues. 

Using 150 and 170 million mt produced and an average ethene price of $650  gives 2019 global sales revenues generated by ethene in the $97 to $111 billion range (150 million mt times $650 per mt and 170 million mt times $650 per mt).