September IPEX down 0.4% month on month led by Europe

LONDON (ICIS)–The ICIS Petrochemical Index (IPEX) dropped by 0.4% month on month in September, tracking price decreases in most major petrochemicals and plastics markets around the world, not least Europe.

Northwest Europe (NWE) posted the largest fall, driven by declines in styrene, toluene and benzene. Butadiene (BD) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were the only commodities to see a price increase in September.

The index for northeast Asia also fell, but by a smaller amount. BD posted the sharpest decrease, down 31% month on month. On the other hand, ethylene prices rose 13.7%.

Petrochemicals and plastics markets in the US fell by 0.27%. Benzene and toluene posted the largest declines, but prices for other commodities, such as BD and methanol, increased.

The Global IPEX index has risen 58% year on year.

The monthly IPEX indices 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 are ‘live’ and updated on a regular basis. The latest prices and values of the regional and global IPEXs are shown below.

Price changes for commodities in the IPEX can be captured in the price table, allowing comparisons to be made on a flexible monthly basis.

IPEX values can also be captured by clicking into the chart 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.