Daily Chemical Reaction
Fatal Attraction – High Prices Lure Production, Timing Of Profit Squeeze Varied But Inevitable
Key Points:
- Asia chemical production is rising and the return of USGC facilities post Laura supports our view of more global supply ahead in October/November – we take a cautious view of petrochemical price/margin trends on avg. in 4Q.
- We display three exhibits: a) Asia ethylene cracker margins; b) US spot PE levels relative to NW Europe & Asia; and c) NA PP price relative to USGC propane. Each reflects a level at-or-above the one seen at this point last year.
- Other items worth mention today range from corporate items (e.g. BASF TDI price hikes, LyondellBasell Green Polymer Targets, Sinopec Zhongke facility start-up, Wacker dispersion price hikes, etc.), to several global price trends of note, to comments on Canadian petrochemical developments.
See PDF below for all charts