A final settlement for the August ethylene contracts was heard at a 2.75-cent increase to 33 cents/lb ($728/mt), market sources said Thursday.
The final settlement fell within market expectations, which called for a 2- to 4-cent hike in recent weeks.
Spot front-month ethylene assessments averaged 34.288 cents/lb in August, up 6.794 cents from July's average. In feedstocks, purity ethane front-month assessments averaged 17.245 cents/gal, down 2.011 cents. Propane dipped 2.536 cents to 44.652 cents/gal.
The ethylene contract pricing is at its highest level since the June 2015 pricing of 33.75 cents/lb, S&P Global Platts data showed.
Spot US ethylene was assessed Wednesday at 37 cents/lb FD USG for September and 36.25 cents/lb FD USG for October delivery.
The hike in the August settlement comes on the heels of spot markets that spiked from 29.5 cents/lb in the beginning of the month to 39.125 cents/lb FD USG August 26, its highest since early January of 2015, Platts data showed.
The increase also took place amid unplanned outages in the US Gulf Coast and ahead of two upcoming 50- to 60-day planned turnarounds in Texas.
