US Ethane Exports to China Hit New Roadblock with Licence Requirement

(Reuters) – Chinese purchases of U.S. ethane, a key petrochemical feedstock, face fresh uncertainty after the Commerce Department told exporters to seek licences to export to China, according to trade sources and shipping data.

Washington ordered a broad swathe of companies to stop shipping goods, including ethane and butane, to China without a licence and revoked licences already granted to some suppliers, Reuters reported on Wednesday.