Despite the American petrochemical industry still enjoys cost advantage by using cheap NGLs as raw material to produce ethylene and ethylene derivatives, the falling price of crude oil is squeezing the product price and profit margin. Now, the exchange rates of US dollars against euro, yen, currencies in Southeast Asia and Latin America continue to rise, posing another disadvantage for those international petrochemical companies headquartered in the United States.

The globe cost curve of ethylene production tends to be more flat compared with that of last year. The competitiveness of petrochemical companies in Europe and Asia has been strengthened, and the competitiveness of US companies is shrinking.