Ineos accounted for at least two-thirds of U.S. ethane exports in 2024, according to an analysis by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) cited by The Guardian, which also reported a Pennsylvania campaigner’s account of her children’s illnesses.
Shipments made by Ineos or on its behalf increased from 429 kilotonnes in 2016 to 3,130 kilotonnes in 2025, The Guardian reported. The export-share estimate covers 2024, while the shipment figures compare two different years and measures of Ineos’s role in the trade.
A separate cost comparison provides context for the commercial appeal of U.S. ethane. Bain estimated that U.S. ethane would cost about $300 to $400 per ton less than Asian naphtha, and said U.S. and Middle Eastern producers using ethane were better positioned on costs. EconoTimes previously covered Bain’s analysis of olefin capacity.
Lois Bower-Bjornson, a Clean Air Council campaigner in Washington County, Pennsylvania, told The Guardian, “My children started getting sick.” She said her older son developed rashes across his body. Her younger son had nosebleeds severe enough to leave him anemic and close to fainting, she said.
