HOUSTON (ICIS news)--The ICIS Petrochemical Index (IPEX) for June rose to 327.32, a gain of 2.4% over the May reading of 319.55.
Although the rate of increase declined from the 3.6% jump in the May IPEX from April, all 12 products in the IPEX portfolio reflected increases this month.
The index has risen by 21% from its June 2007 level of 270.47 points.
Despite some recent weakness in the energy complex, oil and petrochemical feedstocks remain elevated. NYMEX crude futures are nearly double their year-ago price levels, and propylene is up about 30% year-over-year.
The leading gainer for June was benzene, up 6.6% globally due largely to upstream crude oil prices. Benzene led regionally by an increase of 13.1% in Europe.
Toluene was the next-strongest performer with a global increase of 6.2%, weakening from last month's 8.2% gain, however.
Also reflecting upstream pressures, propylene led the remainder of the portfolio with an increase of 3.7% for the period, followed closely by polypropylene at 3.4%.
Propylene prices were, by far, strongest in the US, with an increase of 6.2%.
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 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).
Although the rate of increase declined from the 3.6% jump in the May IPEX from April, all 12 products in the IPEX portfolio reflected increases this month.
The index has risen by 21% from its June 2007 level of 270.47 points.
Despite some recent weakness in the energy complex, oil and petrochemical feedstocks remain elevated. NYMEX crude futures are nearly double their year-ago price levels, and propylene is up about 30% year-over-year.
The leading gainer for June was benzene, up 6.6% globally due largely to upstream crude oil prices. Benzene led regionally by an increase of 13.1% in Europe.
Toluene was the next-strongest performer with a global increase of 6.2%, weakening from last month's 8.2% gain, however.
Also reflecting upstream pressures, propylene led the remainder of the portfolio with an increase of 3.7% for the period, followed closely by polypropylene at 3.4%.
Propylene prices were, by far, strongest in the US, with an increase of 6.2%.
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 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).
