Ethylene: Production route
Ethane or naphtha: why feedstock decides the winner
What this tab covers How it is made: the main production routes or, for product families, the main product types and technologies, compared on share of supply, inputs per tonne, plant scale, yield, co-products and unit cost.Almost all ethylene comes from steam cracking. Feedstock choice sets the economics: ethane crackers in the US and Middle East turn about 80% of feed into ethylene and little else, while naphtha crackers in Europe, Japan, Korea and much of China and India yield only about 30% ethylene plus propylene, butadiene and aromatics. China also makes olefins from coal via methanol (CTO and MTO). Small volumes come from dehydrating bio-ethanol, mainly Braskem in Brazil.
Routes compared
| Route | Share of supply | Inputs per tonne | Typical scale | Yield | Co-products | Unit cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ethane steam cracking | about 35-40% of global capacity (indicative) | about 1.25 t ethane per t ethylene (indicative) | typical new cracker 1.0-2.0 Mt/yr ethylene; Golden Triangle (US) about 2 Mt/yr | about 80% ethylene by weight | small amounts of propylene and butadiene; hydrogen-rich fuel gas | cash cost about $300-450/t in the US Gulf (indicative, 2025 ethane prices); US ethylene traded near $364/t in Nov 2025 |
| Naphtha (and LPG) steam cracking | about 45-50% of global capacity (indicative) | about 3.3 t naphtha per t ethylene (indicative) | 0.8-1.8 Mt/yr ethylene; BASF Zhanjiang 1 Mt/yr | about 30% ethylene, 15-17% propylene, 4-5% butadiene, plus pyrolysis gasoline | propylene about 0.5 t, butadiene about 0.15 t and aromatics-rich pygas per t ethylene (indicative) | Asian naphtha at $560-580/t (Dec 2025) implies break-even ethylene near $800/t, a cash break-even spread of about $220-240/t over naphtha (ChemOrbis) |
| Coal or methanol to olefins (CTO/MTO) | about 10% of global ethylene capacity, almost all in China (indicative) | about 3 t methanol per t of light olefins (indicative) | 0.6-1.8 Mt/yr olefins | ethylene to propylene ratio about 1:1, adjustable | butenes, water, heavy CO2 from gasification | competitive with naphtha when coal is cheap; not published by plant |
| Bio-ethanol dehydration | well under 1% of global capacity | about 1.7 t ethanol per t ethylene (stoichiometric 1.64) | Braskem Triunfo about 260 kt/yr (indicative) | about 95-99% selectivity | water | premium of roughly 30-50% over fossil PE (indicative) |
How each route works
Ethane steam crackingEthane from shale or associated gas is cracked with steam at about 850°C for under a second. Yields are about 80% ethylene, with hydrogen and methane used as fuel. Plants are simple and cheap to run because little co-product needs separating or selling.
Lowest cost and lowest CO2 per tonne of ethylene, but produces almost no propylene or butadiene and depends on gas-region ethane.
Argus Mar 2026 (US price, Golden Triangle); yields indicative (industry standard) Naphtha (and LPG) steam crackingLight naphtha or LPG is cracked under similar conditions, producing a broad slate of olefins and aromatics. Value depends on selling all co-products, so naphtha crackers are tied to refineries and integrated derivative chains.
Flexible co-products, but high cost in a glut; Asian naphtha margins about -$158 to -$195/t in 2023-2025.
ChemOrbis Dec 2025; Argus Aug 2025; yields indicative Coal or methanol to olefins (CTO/MTO)Coal is gasified to syngas, converted to methanol and then over a zeolite catalyst to ethylene and propylene in roughly equal amounts. Standalone MTO plants buy methanol, often imported.
Uses domestic coal for energy security, but CO2 intensity is several times that of cracking.
indicative (basis: IEA The Future of Petrochemicals 2018) Bio-ethanol dehydrationFermentation ethanol is dehydrated over an alumina catalyst at about 400°C to ethylene, then polymerised to bio-PE.
Low or negative cradle-to-gate CO2, but costly and limited by ethanol supply.
indicative (basis: Braskem disclosures as known) Unit economics are indicative ranges from the sources named; costs move with feedstock and energy prices, plant size and region.