Overview

• The Commerce Department’s June 25 letters allow Enterprise Products and Energy Transfer to load ethane onto vessels bound for China but prohibit offloading without a separate Bureau of Industry and Security licence.
• Companies face civil fines up to twice a shipment’s value if vessels unload ethane in Chinese ports without prior US authorization.
• Conditional loading approvals are expected to alleviate tanker backups at export terminals near Houston where vessels had been stalled.
• Exporters have remained reluctant to dispatch new cargoes because of lingering uncertainty over whether offloading authorizations will be granted.
• The policy shift follows recent Chinese moves to speed export licence approvals and forms part of ongoing US-China trade negotiations over critical materials.