The US polymer-grade propylene contract price for August has fully settled at a rollover at 78 cents/lb, market sources said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the chemical-grade propylene contract was also settling flat to July at 76.50 cents/lb, although a source said one major buyer had yet to agree, even as the rest of the market was deeming the settlement final.
Propylene contracts began settling at a rollover last week, with Enterprise Product Partners as the last PGP producer to get on board with the settlement this week, sources said.
Recent dips in the energy complex and volatility of financial markets negated an increase sought by producers.
At least two producers, Lyondell Basell and ExxonMobil, originally nominated a 3-cents/lb hike for August. Less than two weeks ago, all signs pointed to a settlement that would include a 2-cents/lb increase.
However, that was before credit-rating agency Standard and Poor's downgraded US debt a notch from "AAA" status to "AA+" status August 5, sending financial markets into a frenzy last week and pushing the energy complex lower.
Like Platts, Standard and Poor's is part of the McGraw-Hill family of companies.
Propylene seemed to resist the type of pronounced downward movements seen in other chemicals as a result of the energy dip over the past 5-10 days. That said, both spot RGP and PGP lost momentum to start August.
Spot RGP, considered a good indicator for PGP and CGP prices, was assessed Tuesday on either side of 68.25 cents/lb after August traded at 68 cents/lb to start the week.
RGP has averaged 68.69 cents/lb over the past two months, according to Platts data.
Spot PGP was last assessed Friday by Platts on either side of 78.50 cents/lb, while CGP was assessed on either side of 75.50 cents/lb.
