US LDPE margins rise by 0.07% on lower feedstock ethane costs

HOUSTON (ICIS)–US polyethylene (PE) margins for low density polyethylene (LDPE) rose by 0.07% following a decrease in feedstock ethane costs, the ICIS margin report showed on Monday.

Integrated domestic PE margins were assessed at 69.65 cents/lb ($1,536/tonne) for LDPE and 60.22 cents/lb for high density polyethylene (HDPE) blow moulding in the week that ended on 23 January.

That represents a 0.49 cent/lb increase on average for LDPE and a 0.50 cent/lb hike for HDPE from a week earlier, using ethane as a feedstock.

Ethane costs for the week ending on 23 January fell by 4.8% or 1.00 cent/gal. Co-product credits increased by 2.77 cents/lb.

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