US LDPE margins increase on lower feedstock costs

HOUSTON (ICIS)–US polyethylene (PE) margins for low density polyethylene (LDPE) rose by 0.41% following a decrease in feedstock ethane costs, the ICIS margin report showed on Monday.

Integrated domestic PE margins were assessed at 73.73 cents/lb ($1,625/tonne) for LDPE and 64.42 cents/lb for high density polyethylene (HDPE) blow moulding in the week that ended on 5 September.

That represents a 0.30 cent/lb increase on average for LDPE and HDPE, from a week earlier, using ethane as a feedstock.

Ethane costs for the week ending on 5 September fell by 2.8%. Co-product credits increased on slightly higher pygas values overcoming lower butadiene (BD) values.

Co-product credits are the price at which products such as propylene, butadiene and benzene, which are made along with ethylene in the cracking process, can be sold.