The acetone settlement for March was unanimously settled at $0.515 per pound. This represents a $0.005 per pound increase from February’s posting. Phenol demand is still weak, so acetone remains slightly snug.
The refinery grade propylene (RGP) movement for the latest 45-day volume weighted average was flat compared to the previous pricing window. Since late March, RGP pipeline deals have elevated to $0.125 per pound. RGP by railcar has come down from its high around half a dollar to just below $0.40 per pound. Polymer grade propylene (PGP) has been on a bearish run over the last few weeks. PGP saw a 2024 high of nearly $0.60 per pound but has fallen to current levels of just over $0.40 per pound.
March’s acetone imports totaled approximately 11,000 MT’s. Germany and Korea were the main sellers into the USA in March. Import pricing from both Europe and Asia has risen over the course of the last month. We expect this will temper import volume moving forward but 2024 imports should still very much outpace 2023 levels.
We saw domestic acetone truck and rail prices move up at the beginning of April. All domestic producers are operating, but at tempered levels due to poor phenol demand. Until construction (big sector for phenol consumption) picks back up, we expect acetone to stay relatively expensive. In a new development, Olin and Westlake have filed anti-dumping duties on epoxy resins from China, India, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. If duties are established on this phenol derivative, we expect US phenol/acetone production to pick up. We will learn the results of this trial in the next couple of months.
We predicted an elevated settlement from February to March. We predict another hike up from March to April to the tune of $0.02 to $0.04 per pound. Hope everyone is enjoying their Spring!
