HOUSTON,May 04 - The ICIS Petrochemical Index (IPEX) for May rose by 1.1%, the slowest growth in chemical prices in five months.
Relatively high ethylene and propylene prices offset slower growth or decreases for other chemicals, bringing the May index to 298.55, up 3.27 points from April.
Prices rose for two-thirds of the chemicals in the index, with prices for benzene, styrene, polystyrene and methanol prices dropped in all regions. Methanol prices fell 8.7% in the US alone. Propylene and polypropylene prices saw the steepest hikes worldwide.
But as supply constraints that had been affecting the market the previous quarter loosened, and demand for some chemicals flattened, prices in May started to stabilise, sources said.
Published at the beginning of each month, the IPEX provides an independent indicator of average change in world petrochemical prices.
Dating back to January 1993, historical ICIS prices for a basket of 12 essential petrochemical grades in the US, western Europe and the northeast Asian markets have been weighted by regional nameplate capacity to generate a monthly index value.
The IPEX product basket comprises ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, paraxylene, styrene, methanol, butadiene, PVC, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS).
Relatively high ethylene and propylene prices offset slower growth or decreases for other chemicals, bringing the May index to 298.55, up 3.27 points from April.
Prices rose for two-thirds of the chemicals in the index, with prices for benzene, styrene, polystyrene and methanol prices dropped in all regions. Methanol prices fell 8.7% in the US alone. Propylene and polypropylene prices saw the steepest hikes worldwide.
But as supply constraints that had been affecting the market the previous quarter loosened, and demand for some chemicals flattened, prices in May started to stabilise, sources said.
Published at the beginning of each month, the IPEX provides an independent indicator of average change in world petrochemical prices.
Dating back to January 1993, historical ICIS prices for a basket of 12 essential petrochemical grades in the US, western Europe and the northeast Asian markets have been weighted by regional nameplate capacity to generate a monthly index value.
The IPEX product basket comprises ethylene, propylene, benzene, toluene, paraxylene, styrene, methanol, butadiene, PVC, polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polystyrene (PS).
