Global IPEX down 0.6% month on month in March, up 6.8% in Q1

• Global IPEX for March 2018 down 0.6% month on month at 276.8
  • US IPEX up 0.8% at 275.0
  • Northwest Europe IPEX up 0.6% at 324.8
  • Northeast Asia IPEX down 2.0% at 258.5

• First quarter 2018 Global IPEX up 6.8% quarter on quarter at 276.7
  • US Q1 2018 IPEX up 4.0% at 273.9
  • Northwest Europe Q1 2018 IPEX up 8.3% at 320.7
  • Northeast Asia Q1 2018 IPEX up 7.7% at 260.6

Major price increases this month
Commodity	Region	Month on month change
Butadiene	US	+28.6%
Butadiene	Northwest Europe	+9.0%
Major price decreases this month
Commodity	Region	Month on month change
Propylene	US	-11.3%
Benzene	Northeast Asia	-6.2%
Styrene	Northeast Asia	-6.0%
Polyethylene	Northeast Asia	-5.1%

The ICIS petrochemical index tracks the movement of 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 index values are subject to change as contract prices settle. US ethylene and styrene prices have not settled since February.

Global and regional IPEX data are available here
The ICIS Petrochemical Index methodology is available here