Base Chemical Global Analysis

North American Chemical Producers Benefit WoW From Improving Cost Positions; Europe & Asia Mixed, Most Face Difficult Setting

August 5, 2024

Companies Mentioned: Nova Chemicals, Dow, LyondellBasell, Baystar, ExxonMobil, Braskem, Pinnacle Polymers, Enterprise, Invista, Celanese, OCI, Methanex, Mitsui, Nutrien, CF Industries, LSB Industries
Commodities Mentioned: Feedstocks & Energy, Global Ethylene Cracker – Spot Profit Analysis, Ethylene & Propylene – Price Trends, Other Relevant Global Commodity Chemical Trends, Global Polyethylene Analysis, Global Polypropylene Analysis, Global Chlor-Vinyl Analysis, Global Methanol Analysis, Global Chemical Data Sheets, Agriculture Price & Margin Dashboard, Flow Charts & Other Ancillary Data

The Weekly Catalyst

North American Chemical Producers Benefit WoW From Improving Cost Positions; Europe & Asia Mixed, Most Face Difficult Setting

Chemical Market Trends: US ethylene and propylene prices held up WoW, following strength since the start of the year amid outages and strong derivative demand, and base chemical prices rose in Europe relative to Asia.
Polymer Market Trends: North American polymer production margins, on average, rose WoW, helped by cost position improvement and export market price support. US spot PE integrated margins rise to a new YTD high.
Feedstock Market Trends: USGC ethane prices led global feedstock cost decreases again WoW, falling further relative to Ex-US naphtha values. US natural gas prices also fell relative to respective prices in Asia and Europe.
Agriculture Market Trends: Crop prices reflect weakness, as US corn and soybean prices reached YTD lows last week, lifting concerns with farmer spending. US ammonia margins rose relative to Europe and Asia WoW.

Exhibit 1 – Chart of the Day: Higher prices, lower costs are benefiting US integrated petrochemical producers relative to their peers abroad, favoring producer restructurings across Europe and Asia that could intensify into 2025.