LPG / NGL
Overview
Whether you need access to our exclusive price indexes and benchmarks, expert commentary on all the latest industry developments, or forecasts to aid your strategic planning, we offer you the most transparent and trustworthy LPG business intelligence available anywhere.
With robust, market-appropriate methodologies to assess prices and our global team of experts in constant consultation with a range of participants involved in the LPG markets, you can rely on our independent insight to inform your decisions.
Our price assessments are widely used in contracts by participants across the supply chain and are listed by exchanges including ICE and CME, enabling price risk management options across markets.
Latest LPG / NGL news
Browse the latest market moving news on the global LPG and NGL's industry.
Range sees 6pc gain in realized 3Q NGL pricing
Range sees 6pc gain in realized 3Q NGL pricing
Houston, 23 October (Argus) — Marcellus gas producer Range Resources received a 6pc higher premium versus Mont Belvieu, Texas, on its natural gas liquids (NGL) production in the third quarter owing to its access to markets in Europe and Asia. The Fort Worth, Texas, based producer received on average $25.96/bl for its NGLs, excluding derivatives, up 6pc versus last year. That exceeded average NGL prices at Mont Belvieu, Texas, by $4.10/bl. "Our ability to market ethane propane and butane into the international markets drove the highest NGL premium in company history, at over $4/bl over the Mont Belvieu index," said chief executive Dennis Degner. Range reported its natural gas liquids (NGL) production rose 5pc year over year to 10.2mn bl, or 111,465 b/d, in the third quarter as its gas production rose by 4pc to 1.5 bcf/d. Range updated its full-year guidance on its NGL pricing to Mont Belvieu plus $2.10-$2.35/bl, up from the 75¢/bl to $1.50/bl estimated in the second quarter, owing to gains in propane and butane prices at Mont Belvieu, Texas and higher spot premiums for exported cargoes out of the US. Range's average NGL estimates assumes 53pc of its production is ethane, 27pc propane, and 8pc normal butane. Mont Belvieu, Texas, LST propane averaged 72.9¢/USG in the third quarter, higher than the average of 68.9¢/USG in the third quarter of 2023. Mont Belvieu butane prices averaged 97.25¢/USG in the third quarter, up versus 83.47¢/USG last year. Range credited its term commitments on Energy Transfer's Mariner East system, which pipes NGLs from Range and other Marcellus producers to its export facility at Marcus Hook, Pennsylvania, with its higher realized prices on NGLs, particularly propane and butane, given higher netbacks from Europe and Asia. "International demand and pricing for NGLs remained robust in the third quarter, leading to near maximum US export capacity utilization," Degner said. "Improving Panama Canal throughput access, and a growing global fleet of LPG ships improved waterborne freight rates, and these factors combined to drive export price premiums to new levels relative to the Mont Belvieu index, and Range's portfolio of transportation and sales contracts provided reliable access to these premium markets." Argus-assessed prices for spot propane cargoes on a fob basis rose above Mont Belvieu +30¢/USG in mid-September, a multi-year high. Degner noted higher premiums on spot cargoes are expected to remain until US Gulf coast terminals expand capacity there in late 2025. By Amy Strahan Netback to Northwest Europe vs Mont Belvieu $/t Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
CSX forecasts softer 4Q rail demand
CSX forecasts softer 4Q rail demand
Washington, 17 October (Argus) — Eastern US railroad said it expects that fourth quarter commodity market conditions will be mixed, limiting some freight demand. "Going into the fourth quarter, near-term conditions look modestly more challenging," chief executive Joe Hinrichs said on Wednesday. But the railroad expects "modest volume growth", supported by a few segments including chemicals and agriculture. But lower locomotive fuel prices and the impact of international coking coal prices, which are linked to export rail contracts, could drive a decrease in total revenue during the fourth quarter. He estimated that impact at roughly $200mn compared with last year's fourth quarter revenue of $3.68bn. CSX expects to see a carryover of year-over-year momentum in chemicals, agriculture and food, forest products and minerals, while metals and automotive will continue to be challenged. Demand for metals shipments is predicted to soften through the end of the year. Interest in shipments, particularly steel, is soft because of "sluggish demand, ample supply and low commodity prices", chief commercial officer Kevin Boone said. A weaker-than-anticipated automotive market contributed to the drop in metals demand. Consumer demand for automotive products has been reduced by high retail prices and interest rates, which has led to increased dealer inventories and slower production, Boone said. But CSX expects that an "interest rate easing cycle will help these markets normalize," Boone said. Metals and equipment volume fell in the second quarter, primarily because of lower steel and scrap shipments. Shipments of metals and equipment fell by 9pc to about 64,000 carloads compared with the same three months in 2023. Revenue dropped to $208mn, down by 8pc from a year earlier. Automotive volume dropped in the second quarter because of lower North American vehicle production, CSX said. Automotive traffic fell to 301,000 railcars loaded, down by 2pc from the third quarter 2023. Automotive revenue dropped to $98mn, down by 3pc compared with a year earlier. The outlook for fertilizer shipments is mixed following the third quarter as a decline in long-haul phosphates shipments persisted. Volume was negative, but the railroad was able to haul some profitable spot shipments. Shipments of fertilizer fell to 45,000 carloads in the third quarter, down by 4pc from a year earlier. Fertilizer revenue dropped to $118mn, down by 5pc from a year earlier. CSX expects growth in some market segments. Chemicals freight demand is expected to continue growing following "consistent, broad strength across plastics, industrial chemicals, LPGs, and waste. That demand helped boost chemicals volume by 9pc compared with a year earlier. Chemicals revenue rose to $727mn in the second quarter, up by 13pc compared with a year earlier. Agricultural and food products shipping demand is expected to continue growing, led by demand for grain and feed ingredients from the Midwest for supplies. That follows a third quarter when higher ethanol shipments, as well as increased overall volume helped raise volume by 9pc from the third quarter of 2023. Revenue from shipping agricultural and food products rose to $416mn, up by 11pc from a year earlier. CSX expects intermodal growth to continue with the trucking market falling, which would help drive more container freight to rail. Intermodal shipments are goods shipped in containers and trailers between different modes of transportation. The 1-3 October strike by the International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) did impact intermodal traffic, but the railroad was pleased with the "relatively quick short-term solution", Boone said. International intermodal volume during the third quarter rose because of higher east-coast port traffic. Domestic volume was mostly flat. Overall intermodal volume during the quarter increased by 3pc compared with a year earlier. But lower revenue per container helped reduce total intermodal revenue by 2pc to $509mn. CSX does not expect a major shift in coal volume through the end of the year as coal markets seem relatively stable and utility stockpiles are sufficient, Boone said. Rising natural gas prices are also unlikely to stimulate a "near-term step-up in volumes". Export coal demand has been consistent lately, particularly from buyers in Asia. But revenue per railcar for export coal could make a modest single digit drop, as contracts are tied to international coal benchmarks and prices fell earlier this year. Expport coal voume rose to 11.1mn short tons (10.1mn metric tonnes) in the second quarter on higher demand for thermal and coking coal. But domestic coal deliveries fell to 10.2mn st, down by 12pc from a year earlier, on lower deliveries to power plants and lake and river terminals. Rail coal volume fell by 2pc from a year earlier, while revenue dropped by 7pc to 553mn st. Total CSX profits rose to $894mn, up by 8pc compared with third quarter 2023. Revenue increased to $3.6bn, up by 1pc. By Abby Caplan Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Iran's resilient LPG exports face growing threat
Iran's resilient LPG exports face growing threat
Little is known about what might happen next, but an Israeli attack on Iran is likely to be imminent, write Frances Goh, Ieva Paldaviciute and Matt Scotland Singapore, 15 October (Argus) — Iran's missile attack against Israel at the start of this month has placed the former country's energy exports under threat, as Israel and its ally the US still weigh retaliatory action while trying to avoid all-out war. This includes Iranian LPG trade — done largely on a covert basis with Chinese buyers — which has continued to thrive this year despite intensifying US scrutiny. US president Joe Biden held a call with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on 9 October to discuss Israel's response to Iran's attack. This includes the possibility of striking oil and gas facilities, Biden said on 3 October. Little is known about what might come next, but Israel's defence minister Yoav Gallant said after the call that its attack on Iran would be "deadly, precise and above all surprising". The escalation in the region had little impact on oil prices given the lack of any effect on physical supplies until 7 October, at the one-year anniversary of the attack by Gaza-based Hamas militants on Israel, when Ice Brent crude rose above $81/bl. But this could change if Israel makes good on its threat to directly target Iranian oil infrastructure and, especially, if Iran retaliates with indiscriminate attacks on oil tankers and infrastructure in the Mideast Gulf. The threat for the LPG market is lower than it is for crude, but if Israel were to target Iran's gas processing plants or the two refineries in Bandar Abbas — PGS and Bandar Abbas — which yield over 20pc of the country's refinery LPG, the ramifications could still be substantial, consultancy FGE's Middle East managing director Iman Nasseri says. Iran's three LPG terminals could also theoretically be attacked, preventing the country's seaborne exports, but "I doubt they will be", he says. Iran's LPG production and exports have surged in spite of US sanctions over the past four years . Exports increased to nearly 7.9mn t in January-September from just under 7.8mn t a year earlier, Kpler data show, with significant recent growth stalled by heavy maintenance at the giant South Pars field. Iran's deliveries to south China rose to 5.4mn t from 5mn t, according to Kpler. Iran's LPG exports stood at around 802,000t in September, Kpler data show. But market participants estimate them to have been closer to 900,000-1mn t. This is because of the difficulty in tracking vessels loading and shipping from the country. Iran's buoyant LPG trade is also unlikely to be disrupted by tightening US sanctions or the potential return of Donald Trump as US president "unless gas processing plants or terminals are destroyed", Nasseri says. Iran's LPG cargo availability improved this month after the completion of maintenance, pressuring prices at the same time as other Mideast Gulf suppliers' availability fell and values rose . But this did little to boost sales in a quiet market because Chinese buyers were away for the Golden Week holiday over 1-7 October. Chinese demand for Iranian LPG appears to have shrunk anyway on waning margins at the former country's ethylene cracker and propane dehydrogenation plants given high outright prices . Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
China’s cracker expansion to drive LPG storage growth
China’s cracker expansion to drive LPG storage growth
The addition of ethylene crackers will further drive LPG storage capacity expansion following strong growth in recent years Shanghai, 2 October (Argus) — China's LPG storage capacity is expected to expand again in 2025 after it continued to grow in 2024, the latest Global LPG Storage Survey finds. But whereas the expansion of the past five years has been driven by the country's investment in propane dehydrogenation (PDH) projects, next year's increase is supported by facilities built to serve new ethylene steam crackers. China's PDH capacity reached 22.6mn t/yr by the end of September, up 237pc from 6.7mn t/yr at the end of 2019. This has necessitated a significant increase in propane imports as well as domestic refrigerated LPG storage capacity for VLGC deliveries, which rose 159pc to 5.7mn t from 2.2mn t. The number of import terminals that can be served by VLGCs has grown to 41 from 23 since 2019. China's PDH expansion is expected to slow next year owing to sustained negative production margins. Yet the country's LPG storage capacity is yet again on course to rise, by 330,000t to 6.1mn t, backed by projects tied to new crackers. Domestic petrochemical producers believe LPG will be more competitive than naphtha in terms of cost over the long term, and are consequently building crackers designed to use the feedstock, including ExxonMobil's 1.6mn t/yr cracker in Huizhou, and BASF's 1mn t/yr cracker in Zhanjiang. Ethane imported from the US is likely to be even more competitive than LPG or naphtha, resulting in a crop of new ethane-fed cracker projects as well as conversions of existing units, supporting the development of ethane import terminals and storage capacity. Huatai Shengfu's 600,000 t/yr cracker in Ningbo will switch one of its propane furnaces to ethane use by the end of this year, converting its VLGC terminal into an ethane dedicated one. The 320,000 b/d Shenghong Petrochemical and 800,000 b/d Zhejiang Petroleum and Chemical integrated refineries also plan to develop new ethane terminals in the medium term. China's ethane storage capacity is forecast to rise by 320,000t to 760,000t by the end of 2025 as a result. Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Spotlight content
Browse the latest thought leadership produced by our global team of experts.
Explore our LPG / NGL products
Argus LPG / NGL solutions include global daily, monthly, and forecasted prices, with forward curves and consulting services for the global LPG and NGL markets.
Key price assessments
Argus assess and publish independent prices that capture the value of LPG and NGL's, used by market participants along the value chain and around the world. Our daily price assessments are based on actual trades, bids and offers and follow a strict methodology to ensure impartiality and accuracy.
Related events
No Results Found