Ethylene is the by far most important raw material in the petrochemical industry. About 130 million tonnes of ethylene were processed worldwide in 2013. Direct applications include, among others, the three polyethylene plastics HDPE, LLDPE, and LDPE as well as petrochemical intermediates, which are in turn mainly used for the production of plastics. The most important of these are ethylene oxide, ethylene dichloride and ethylbenzene. The new "Market Study Ethylene" by Ceresana offers a
In China sales of ethylene more than doubled in recent years. Chinese ethylene producers try to become independent from crude oil imports.
