Algerian state oil company Sonatrach has set the contract price for January-loading propane at $287/mt, down $68/mt month on month, market sources said Monday.
The company's contract price for butane loading in January was set at $335/mt, a fall of $50/mt month on month, they said.
Propane rose $40/mt for the December contract price, with a $5/mt increase for butane.
Bearish crude fundamentals and weak seasonal trends for the gases as a heating fuel are both putting pressure on prices, as well as the need to compete with falling Saudi Aramco prices.
Saudi Aramco set its January 2016 contract price for propane at $345/mt, down $115/mt from its December CP, and butane at $390/mt, down $85/mt.
The January CPs were in the lower range of market expectations.
Sonatrach is a major LPG producer, serving demand in the Mediterranean, and also exports on a spot and contract basis to Northwest Europe and the Americas.
