Daily Chemical Reaction
Whole Lotta Love – US Ethylene Spot Strengthens Relative To Asia, ESG Initiatives Build Steam
Key Points:
- US spot ethylene values increased during the past few weeks relative to Asia values. We discuss this tightening relationship, global sector profit trends, and our positive view of the US commodity chemical sector near-term.
- We highlight multiple corporate items (e.g., BASF, Orion Engineered Carbons, West Coast Olefins, Braskem & BASF strategic moves; Sipchem & US Steel commentary; Enterprise LPG-Powered VLGC loading).
- This report highlights numerous other relevant items. These range from the notable weakness in the US dollar relative to the Euro since 1Q20 (Ex. #6), to a view of carbon prices & tax initiatives (Ex. #5), to the difference between US and Asia ethylene cracker cash costs relative to the oil-to-gas price ratio.
See PDF below for all charts, tables and diagrams