Surfactants: Movement

Why active pastes stay local while feedstocks sail far

What this tab covers How it moves between countries: share of output traded, physical form and transport, the largest exporters and importers, main routes, India's trade, and handling rules in transit.

Trade in 2024 UN Comtrade, HS 340211

World exports $1.49 m 5 reporting exporters · about 1,027 t Largest exporter Lebanon 61.9% of world exports Largest importer Lebanon 40.4% of world imports

Where it is exported from and imported to, 2024

Chart: World map of the largest trade flows

Exporter (size = share of world exports) Importer (share of world imports) Shipping chokepoint UN Comtrade 2024, HS 340211: shares of reported world exports and imports by value. Country-to-country route lines are not available for this commodity yet. Hover a circle for values.

HS 340211: largest exporters

Country	Share	Value (US$)	Tonnes
Lebanon	61.9%	$924k	729
Trinidad and Tobago	34%	$507k	280
Guyana	3.9%	$59k	13.1
Togo	0.2%	$2,331	5.00
Samoa	0%	$568	0.10

HS 340211: largest importers

Country	Share	Value (US$)	Tonnes
Lebanon	40.4%	$8.02 m	4,861
Iraq	39.2%	$7.77 m	7,060
Trinidad and Tobago	9.8%	$1.95 m	1,263
Yemen	2.7%	$544k	893
Guyana	2%	$404k	92.2
Cayman Islands	1.9%	$369k	–
Grenada	1.5%	$295k	104
Suriname	1.2%	$235k	353

HS 340213: largest exporters

Country	Share	Value (US$)	Tonnes
Trinidad and Tobago	79.4%	$206k	27.4
Lebanon	17.8%	$46k	–
Grenada	2.8%	$7,218	–
Guyana	0%	$20.0	0.01

HS 340213: largest importers

Country	Share	Value (US$)	Tonnes
Lebanon	73.4%	$5.88 m	2,101
Trinidad and Tobago	13.6%	$1.09 m	364
Cabo Verde	5.6%	$450k	223
Guyana	2.9%	$234k	132
Cayman Islands	2.2%	$173k	–
Suriname	1.4%	$114k	33.8
Grenada	0.7%	$52k	1.84
Antigua and Barbuda	0.1%	$6,874	2.27

UN Comtrade 2024, reported by each country (exports by exporters, imports by importers), all partners. Some countries (for example Russia and Iran) do not report, so their shares are missing. HS codes can be broader than the tile: check the code before reading a share as the whole market.

How it moves

Measure	Figure
Share traded	moderate, roughly 15-25% of output (indicative, basis: active pastes are mostly made near detergent plants, while LAB, fatty alcohols and specialty surfactants travel)
How it moves	Liquids and pastes in ISO tanks, flexitanks, drums and IBCs; LABSA and ethoxylates by chemical tanker; needles and powders in bags.
Routes and chokepoints	Gulf to India and Africa (LAB, LAS); Malaysia and Indonesia to India, China and Europe (fatty alcohols); India to the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the US (specialty surfactants).
India	India is a net exporter of LAS but imported 44% of its LAB in 2020 (lab tile); HS 3402. Not reported separately.
Handling in transit	LABSA: UN2586, class 8 corrosive (indicative); many ethoxylates UN3082 environmentally hazardous liquid; SLES pastes generally not regulated (indicative).