ICE Brent crude oil futures rose by around $1.33/barrel over the week, while indicating a $3/barrel gain from the beginning of May. Higher energy costs pushed spot naphtha prices above the $400/ton CIF NWE threshold this week. Accordingly, naphtha costs were up by around $30-35/ton week over week and when compared to early May. Spot propylene prices suggested a €30/ton increase on FD NWE basis so far this month.
“Our PP supplier trimmed hike targets from €40/ton to €15/ton. Demand has been weaker than expected in May,” an agent of a West European producer noted. A distributor in Germany agreed, “Buying interest was slow during this month while we expect to see mostly rollovers for June.”