Once viewed as a overlooked by-product of oil and gas production, ethane has quietly underpinned major industrial value chains for decades. Today, it has emerged as a strategic petrochemical feedstock with growing importance across global energy markets, international trade, and geopolitics. Market attention is intensifying as U.S.–China trade tensions reshape energy flows, elevating ethane from a background commodity to a critical lever in energy strategy and global trade dynamics.

In this whitepaper, we explore: 

• The evolution of ethane from a secondary by-product into a strategically significant global feedstock and geopolitical asset
• The economic fundamentals behind ethane’s cost advantage, increasing steam cracker feedstock flexibility, and emerging supply constraints
• The impact of U.S.–China trade relations on ethane trade flows and the expanding global footprint of ethane supply, demand, and infrastructure