US steam cracker operators saw margins dip slightly on the week as spot ethylene values fell in the face of pending supply improvements. August spot ethylene prices fell as low at 34.50 cents/lb MtB Wms this week while Sep traded at a penny discount to August.
Given spot ethylene assessed Thursday at 34.125 cents/lb and ethane at 44.25 cents/gallon, E/P mix remained the strongest feed with profits of 46.96 cents/lb. Ethane margins were slightly lower at 13.48 cents/lb while margins from propane and butane were at 2.25 cents/lb and -6.64 cents/lb, respectively.
The Platts estimate of cracker margins measures the relative gain and loss in cents/lb of ethylene produced from cracking several feedstocks. The estimate uses the current spot price and yields of the various ethylene cracker products (ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, toluene, xylene,fuel oil and LSFO) from cracking various light and heavy feedstocks (ethane,propane, butane, and an 80:20 E/P mix).
Sources anticipated that ethylene prices could continue to soften as Dow was in the process of restarting its LHC 7 steam cracker at Freeport, Texas.The company was forced to take the 1.3 billion lbs/year steam cracker offline in mid-July due to a tripped cracked gas compressor. The unit was in restart mode according to a filing to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) however was no running at full rates, source said. Confirmation from the company was not available at time of publication.
Given spot ethylene assessed Thursday at 34.125 cents/lb and ethane at 44.25 cents/gallon, E/P mix remained the strongest feed with profits of 46.96 cents/lb. Ethane margins were slightly lower at 13.48 cents/lb while margins from propane and butane were at 2.25 cents/lb and -6.64 cents/lb, respectively.
The Platts estimate of cracker margins measures the relative gain and loss in cents/lb of ethylene produced from cracking several feedstocks. The estimate uses the current spot price and yields of the various ethylene cracker products (ethylene, propylene, butadiene, benzene, toluene, xylene,fuel oil and LSFO) from cracking various light and heavy feedstocks (ethane,propane, butane, and an 80:20 E/P mix).
Sources anticipated that ethylene prices could continue to soften as Dow was in the process of restarting its LHC 7 steam cracker at Freeport, Texas.The company was forced to take the 1.3 billion lbs/year steam cracker offline in mid-July due to a tripped cracked gas compressor. The unit was in restart mode according to a filing to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) however was no running at full rates, source said. Confirmation from the company was not available at time of publication.
