Asia ethylene margins up for naphtha-based, down for LPG-based

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Asia ethylene margins were mixed during the week ended 14 July, with naphtha-based product up and LPG-based product down, the ICIS margin report showed on Monday.

Margins for naphtha-based ethylene rose by 1.8% in northeast (NE) Asia and rose by 0.6% in southeast (SE) Asia.

For ethylene based on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), margins fell by 5.2% in NE Asia and fell by 6.9% in SE Asia.

The difference was largely down to feedstock costs, as spot prices rose by $18/tonne in each region.

Naphtha costs on an ethylene production basis rose by $10/tonne in NE Asia and SE Asia. LPG costs on the same basis rose by $45/tonne and $46/tonne, respectively.

Cracker co-product credits were up by $1-2/tonne in NE Asia, and were down by $4/tonne or flat in SE Asia.