The European contract prices for ethylene and propylene are likely to rise in October, S&P Global Platts data suggests.
The European spot market for olefins had been on a upward trend since the beginning of the month, after a number or crackers entering planned maintenance diminished imports. The unplanned outage at Shell's Moerdijk cracker in the Netherlands early August was also felt in olefins market well into September.
But the strong premiums to contract prices fell back last week, as European production caught up somewhat with the short positions reported in the region since August.
European ethylene imports for the first seven months of the year have fallen 31,307 mt, or 12%, to 235,632 mt compared with the same period of 2016, the latest Eurostat data showed.
The decline in import volumes came off the back of strong Asian demand, with Middle Eastern producers electing to send material to the region amid favorable netbacks.
In the contract market, the Platts October ethylene indicator was at Eur1,008/mt Wednesday, up Eur13/mt from the September CP.
The spot ethylene market was last assessed Wednesday flat to the September contract price of Eur995/mt FD NWE.
Looking at propylene, the Platts propylene indicator was last assessed at Eur838/mt FD NEW on Wednesday, or Eur8/mt above the September contract price.
The spot propylene market was last assessed at a 2% premium to the European contract price for inland volumes, while coastal cargoes have been trading at a premium to inland, being last assessed at a 3% premium to the September contract price.
The premium that coastal cargoes command over inland molecules has largely been attributed to delayed term cargoes from the US Gulf Coast, but several production units had to shut down as Hurricane Harvey battered the region.
