US Nov propylene contract drops 6 cents/lb on high inventories

HOUSTON (ICIS)–US propylene contract prices for November settled down 6 cents/lb ($132/tonne, €95/tonne) from October as inventory levels remain high, market participants said on Monday.

The decline, took polymer-grade propylene (RGP) contracts down to 58 cents/lb, and the chemical-grade propylene (CGP) contract down to 56.50 cents/lb.

Initial settlements were first heard on Friday for PGP, but the CGP contract was still in negotiations.

Producers had nominated declines of 3.5 and 4 cents/lb for the month while a buyer predicted contracts would drop by as much as 6 cents/lb.

The settlement came as US propylene inventories gained 2% to 3.786m bbl in the first week of November from the previous week, continuing the increase that began in mid-September, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Major US producers of PGP and CGP include Chevron Phillips Chemical, Enterprise Products, ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell, Petrologistics and Shell Chemical.

The main buyers include Dow Chemical, INEOS, Ascend Performance Materials and Total.

($1 = €0.72)

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