Mid-Month to Mid-Month: Transitory Bump Slows Propane Price Slide

摘要

It was all downhill until it wasn’t, but the detour was brief. Both posted and spot prices initially took a sustained tumble over the December/January mid-month term. Te downward correction followed an autumn and early-winter run-up prompted by heavy, all-at-once crop-drying demand coinciding with the early arrival of cold temperatures and weighty calls for space heating fuel. However, that price buttressing largely eased as December progressed and logistical and supply snarls unwound. Traded and wholesale prices headed markedly lower thereafter, but in early January propane hitched a ride on crude oil’s sudden ascent following attacks and retaliatory strikes by Iran and the U.S. As Middle East tensions ratcheted up, oil prices lifted amid war fears. Nevertheless, with both Tehran and Washington appearing to back away from further confrontation in mid-January, prices headed south again.