EVENING SNAPSHOT - Americas Markets Summary

07 May 2012 22:59  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS)--Here is Monday’s end of day Americas oil and chemical market summary from ICIS.

CRUDE: Jun WTI: $97.94/bbl, down 55 cents; Jun Brent: $113.16/bbl, down 2 cents
NYMEX WTI crude futures fell sharply but recouped a good portion of the losses on late bargain hunting. There was an early round of aggressive selling in response to election results in Greece and France which could hurt austerity measures and efforts to contain the eurozone debt but the sell-off ran out of steam.

RBOB: Jun: $2.9741, down 0.17 cent/gal
Reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygen blending (RBOB) prices settled below $3.00/gal as the market still factored in disappointing US jobs data released on Friday. Since the June contract began trading as the prompt month on the NYMEX, gasoline futures have fallen by 15.05 cents/gal.

NATURAL GAS: Jun: $2.336/MMBtu, up 5.7 cents
The June futures contract for natural gas settled on a 3% uptick, positioning the front-month benchmark 8 cents higher than the start of the previous week. This upside could be attributed to rising temperatures in the US west coast and midwest, triggering increased cooling demand for natural gas power generation. The physical markets were mixed, with most locations settling slightly higher.

ETHANE: higher at 38.25-41.50 cents/gal
Mont Belvieu ethane moved higher but remains low as a result of a surplus moving into the Mont Belvieu market. Export markets for propane are full, lowering propane prices and causing ethane to also fall in order to remain the favoured feedstock for ethylene.

AROMATICS: toluene up at $4.02-4.10/gal; mixed xylene wider at $3.92-4.02/gal
May n-grade toluene prices were discussed within a higher range on Monday, sources said. Meanwhile, prompt mixed xylene (MX) spot prices were discussed at $3.92-4.02/gal FOB during the day, a wider range compared with $3.99-4.01/gal FOB the previous session. There were no fresh trades during the day with many players focusing on weaker crude futures.

OLEFINS: ethylene down at 61 cents/lb, RGP offer flat at 60.00 cents/lb
US ethylene for May traded down from 63 cents/lb on Friday. Refinery-grade propylene (RGP) for May was offered flat at 60 cents/lb. RGP traded at 60 and 62 cents/lb last week.

For more pricing intelligence please visit www.icispricing.com

By: Staff Reporter
+44 20 8652 3214

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly