February IPEX up 8%, mainly on rising prices in US and Asia

LONDON (ICIS)–The ICIS Petrochemical Index (IPEX) extended gains in February, rising 7.9% for the month, tracking price increases seen across most of the major petrochemical and plastics commodities.

The tables show the movement in the global and regional IPEX values as petrochemicals and plastics demand generally improved and markets tightened on the back of the winter storm in the US.

US Gulf prices posted the steepest increase because of higher propylene, polypropylene and paraxylene pricing.

Butadiene and benzene were the only values to fall in February in the US Gulf.

The northwest Europe index posted the most moderate increase, with polyethylene, polypropylene and toluene leading the rise.

All the petrochemical and plastics prices used to calculate the index in Europe were higher in February, with the exception of benzene and butadiene.

The northeast Asia index also went up substantially on the back of stronger styrene, benzene and toluene.

In northeast Asia, only ethylene and methanol values declined in February.

The Global IPEX index climbed 12.3% year on year.

The monthly IPEXs provide a snapshot of the petrochemicals and plastics markets in the three major producing and consuming regions as well as globally.

The IPEX table and charts below are ‘live’ and update on a regular basis. The latest price increases are shown with regional and global IPEX values.

Price changes for the commodities used to create the IPEX can be captured by users on the price table allowing comparisons to be made on a flexible monthly basis.

Likewise, IPEX values can be captured by clicking into the chart are and downloading current and historical data using the ‘download’ button and selecting an option.

The ICIS petrochemical index tracks the movement of prices for the 12 major petrochemicals and polymers: ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, toluene, paraxylene (PX), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), styrene, polystyrene (PS), methanol and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) with the regional indexes weighted by capacity. The IPEX values are related to a January 2000 base of 100. IPEX values are subject to change retrospectively as monthly contract prices are settled.