Global IPEX down 5.9% in May on sharp price drops in NE Asia, US Gulf

Miguel Rodriguez Fernandez

06-Jun-2023

LONDON (ICIS)–The ICIS Petrochemical Index (IPEX) fell by 5.9% in May on the back of softer chemical values across all regions, not least in northeast Asia and the US Gulf.

Prices in northeast Asia posted the steepest decline globally, down by 7.9% over April.

The drop was driven by lower butadiene (BD), paraxylene (PX), benzene and styrene values.

The US Gulf index also decreased, although at a softer pace, by 3.1%. Propylene (C3), polypropylene (PP) and toluene led the fall.

PX and polyethylene (PE) contract prices for May have yet to settle in that region, as upstream volatility is delaying an agreement between buyers and sellers.

The northwest Europe index went down by 0.8%, on the back of lower toluene, PX and PE.

An increase in benzene and styrene contract prices over April could not offset the fall among other commodities.

The price downtrend seen in the petrochemical markets in May was mainly driven by a sharp decline in upstream crude oil costs during the second half of April and the beginning of May, prompted by fears of a possible recession and persistently high costs of borrowing.

The global IPEX for May was down by 26.7% year on year.

*A non-market adjustment was made by ICIS to US polyethylene (PE) prices on 10 February, as well as to US PVC prices on 17 February. These adjustments impacted US IPEX values.

The ICIS Petrochemical Index (IPEX) tracks the movement of prices for the 12 major petrochemicals and polymers: ethylene (C2), propylene (C3), butadiene (BD), 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.

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