INTERACTIVE: August Global IPEX rises on NE Asia PX, benzene and propylene

LONDON (ICIS)–Here are the August IPEX values and details of the major commodity petrochemical and polymer contract and average spot price movements for the month.

IPEX	IPEX Value	July to August change
Global	281.83	1.22%
US	270.82	0.63%
Northwest Europe	315.24	-1.63%
Northeast Asia	274.15	2.90%
Major price rises in August
Commodity	Region	Month on month rise
Paraxylene	Northeast Asia	8.38%
Benzene	Northeast Asia	6.03%
Propylene	Northeast Asia	5.33%
Major price falls in August
Commodity	Region	Month on month fall
Benzene	Northwest Europe	-8.02%
Polyethylene	US	-4.23%
Methanol	US	-2.68%

– Global IPEX driven by strong price gains in northeast Asia

– Northeast Asia C3 supply remained tight; strong paraxylene demand helped push prices higher

– The benzene contract price in northwest Europe fell €52/tonne or $53/tonne in US dollar terms

The index values are subject to change as contract prices settle. The following monthly contract prices for August are yet to settle – US paraxylene and styrene.

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

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.

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