MOSCOW (MRC) -- US propane and propylene stocks surged 4.1 million bbl during the week ended 25 September, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), said Chemweek.
Nationwide stocks totaled 102 million bbl, up 4.2% on the week and 5.9% above year-ago levels. An OPIS survey of market participants on Tuesday called for an average build of 2.2 million bbl on the week, with estimates ranging from 500,000 bbl to 4 million bbl.
Demand, as suggested by product supplied, tumbled over the reporting period, coming in at 615,000 b/d, down 434,000 b/d. At the same time, refiner and blender net production increased by 123,000 b/d to 2.351 million b/d. Exports of propane and propylene increased by 276,000 b/d to 1.315 million b/d for the latest reporting week, while imports rose by 51,000 b/d to 161,000 b/d.
Regionally, PADD 3 (Gulf Coast) stocks rose 3.6 million bbl to 59.5 million bbl and were 2.8 million bbl higher than last year. PADD 2 (Midwest) increased by 400,000 bbl to 27.8 million bbl and were 300,000 bbl ahead of 2019. PADD 1 (East Coast) rose by 100,000 bbl on the week to 9.2 million bbl, up 1.3 million from 2019, and PADDs 4 and 5 fell 100,000 bbl to 5.4 million bbl (1.3 million bbl over last year).
Spot propane prices had limited reaction to the EIA data, with no post-report transactions confirmed at Mont Belvieu and bid/ask ranges largely holding to levels done earlier in the morning. TET (Lone Star) transacted from 49.5-51 cts/gal and non-TET (Enterprise) at 49.75-50.875 cts/gal. Conway propane last traded at 48.125 cts/gal, incrementally higher than a pre-EIA range of 46.5-48 cts/gal.
As per MRC's DataScope report, Russian companies significantly raised their purchasing of PP in foreign markets in August partially because of a major increase in demand, imports were 21,200 tonnes versus 17,200 tonnes a month earlier. Thus, overall PP imports into Russia reached 143,200 tonnes in January-August 2020, compared to 120,100 tonnes a year earlier. Purchasing of all grades of propylene polymers in foreign markets increased, with homopolymer PP imports accounting for the most noticeable rise.
MRC