Ethylene Asia

摘要

NEA: The CFR Northeast Asia ethylene price dropped $10/mt from Thursday to be assessed at $1,161/mt Friday, erasing a $10/mt gain seen earlier this week, as bearish sentiment set in again amid a sharp plunge in Western crude oil futures. As a result, the CFR NEA price was assessed flat from last Friday. Overnight Thursday, NYMEX September crude oil futures dived $5.20/barrel, settling at $82.38/barrel in a commodity-wide selloff sparked by concerns over the global economy. At 4:30 PM Singapore time (0830 GMT)Friday, NYMEX September crude oil futures were pegged at $79.84/barrel, down $5.27/b from $85.11/b last Friday. The Asian ethylene market started this week on a firm note, with end-users' buying appetite slowly returning amid rebounding energy futures. But the firm sentiment did not last due to the sharp downturn of crude oil futures late week, as well as looming speculation over an earlier-than-expected restart of Formosa Petrochemical's 700,000 mt/year No. 1 steam cracker, which could dramatically change the region's demandand- supply situation.