China—which slapped a 25-percent tariff on U.S. LPG in one of the trade tit-for-tat moves at the end of August—has cut off LPG from the United States, which was one of its key suppliers of the fuel last year. In 2017, the United States was China’s second-biggest LPG supplier, accounting for 19 percent of all Chinese imports, Platts says, quoting data from China’s General Administration of Customs. According to analysts and traders earlier this week, not a single U.S. cargo of LPG has arrived in China since late August, when the country slapped tariffs on many American products, including LPG. The 25-percent tariff makes U.S. LPG too expensive, but it also pushes other LPG suppliers in the world to hike their prices, so Chinese propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plants that import LPG are scrambling for alternative supplies and paying higher prices also for non-U.S. LPG, which eats away […]