Importers & Exporters Top 100 2024

increase exports last year , said Jim Fitterling , CEO of Dow Chemical , the fourth-largest US exporter in 2023 , according to the Journal of Commerce Top 100 rankings .

Export growth accelerated in the second half of the year thanks to “ the ability to get marine cargo moving ,” Fitterling said during an earnings call in January , noting that Dow ran its plants at 90 % capacity during the fourth quarter to meet the increased demand .

“ That improved considerably as we worked through the year ,” he added . “ In fact , December was one of the highest months of the year for [ polyethylene ] export sales .”

Chemical export growth appears to be slowing in the early part of 2024 , however , with volumes sliding 9.2 % year over year in January and February , according to PIERS .

Fitterling said China was among Dow ’ s strongest export markets , with demand for plastics used in packaging and consumer durables seeing “ double-digit ” growth last year . US chemicals exports to China spiked 40.4 % in 2023 , according to PIERS .

Shipments to India and Malaysia swelled 38.8 % and 34.3 %, respectively , but from a much lower base ; the two countries combined accounted for 9.7 % of US chemicals exports , compared with China ’ s 16.6 % share . “ Global manufacturing is the driver because plastic resins go into so many materials ,” Rose-Glowacki said . “ Housing , autos . As those go up and down , you ’ ll see the resins follow suit .”

Resin producers are expanding capacity to meet the rising demand . Shell began ramping up production at its Monaca plant in Pennsylvania last year , as did Nova Chemical at its facility in Alberta , Canada .

Those new suppliers are pushing more resin volumes through ports outside of the traditional Gulf Coast gateways . Chemical exports through the Port of Charleston , for example , jumped 20.8 % last year , while volumes through the ports of Savannah and Virginia grew 5.5 %.

“ Southeast Atlantic ports are attracting volumes from throughout North America ,” Stephen Paul , COO of resins packager Ray-Mont Logistics , told the Journal of Commerce . “ You get some of the product coming from Pennsylvania , some from Ontario and Alberta , and even some from the Gulf Coast .”

Due to its proximity to Gulf Coast petrochemical plants , Houston remains the primary gateway for resins — handling nearly 40 % of total US chemical exports last year — but Paul said shippers want to reduce the risk associated with relying on a single port .

“ Customers are looking for gateways with Latin America , Middle East and trans-Atlantic services , in addition to a steady stream of Asian destinations ,” he added .

email : michael . angell @ spglobal . com

Chemicals

EXPORTS

1,943,163 TEUS

↑5.7 %

Change from 2022

↑1.9 %

5-year compound annual growth rate

America Metal Export

Ascend Performance Materials

Celanese

Chevron Phillips Chemical

Dow Chemical Eastman Chemical ExxonMobil Chemical H . Muehlstein & Co ., Inc .

Montachem International

Prairie Creek Grain Co . Ravago

Rayonier Advanced Materials

Shintech Tricon Energy U . S . Borax Inc . Valero Vinmar International

Paper and forest product exports tumbled 8.8 % from 2022 and 46.7 % from 2018 last year . Shutterstock . com

Paper , forest exports decline extends to sixth straight year in 2023

By Ari Ashe

US exports of paper and forest products fell for a sixth consecutive year in 2023 as a cyclical decline caused by regulatory hurdles overseas and stiff competition from South America continued .

Paper and forest product exports totaled 659,912 TEUs last year , down 8.8 % from 2022 and 46.7 % from 2018 , according to PIERS , a sister product of the Journal of Commerce within S & P Global . Scrap paper and forest products are the largest category of recyclables , accounting for 48.1 % of the total in 2023 .

Those declines were felt most acutely at East Coast ports , which handle nearly three-quarters of paper and forest product exports . Outbound volumes through Savannah , the busiest US gateway for paper and forest products with 25.9 % of the total in 2023 , fell 6.4 % year over year and 43.7 % from 2018 .

One bright spot was shipments of recovered paper to China , which grew 49 % last year , according to the American Forest and Paper Association .

“[ B ] ut the amount of recovered paper exports to China is small in comparison with the amount of recovered paper exports to the rest of Asia ,” the association said in a statement to the Journal of Commerce . “ In addition to global macroeconomic conditions that challenge competitive markets , our industry has also faced increasingly costly regulations , transportation constraints and labor shortages . Access to the European Union market is becoming progressively conditional on an unprecedented number of regulatory obligations linked to circularity and sustainability .”

Selling scrap paper to China has become easier because some US producers are selling their recyclables to www . joc . com May 20 , 2024 | Journal of Commerce 49