LONDON (ICIS)–The European propylene contract reference price for June has been agreed at €1,032/tonne, up by €80/tonne from May, some contract participants said on Wednesday.
The 8% increase was directly confirmed by two producers and two consumers, one integrated the other non-integrated.
An increase had been widely anticipated because of the steep increase in upstream naphtha costs over May when compared to April.
In addition, European propylene supply is tight and players are having to contemplate high spot prices if they wish to secure additional supply from Asia or the US.
The propylene contract reference price has not been in four-digit territory since July 2015 when it was €1,010/tonne but it is the highest since October 2014.
The monthly contract reference price is established only on direct confirmation from a minimum of two producers and two consumers. It is agreed on a free delivered (FD) northwest Europe (NWE) basis.
The European ethylene June contract price also settled on Wednesday at €1,150/tonne, up by €63/tonne from May.
(Updates in paragraph 7 with monthly European ethylene contract)
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