美国3月乙烯合同创下15年来最大增幅

据ICIS网站4月2日休斯顿报道 由于风暴相关的生产问题依然存在，美国大多数市场参与者3月份的乙烯合同价格较2月份上涨了9美分/磅（198美元/吨）。

环比增幅为2005年10月以来最大。

2月中旬的冬季风暴导致蒸汽裂解装置停运和减息，使得现货价格月环比大幅上涨，超过了合同价格结算中较低的现金成本。

这将合同价格推至2014年10月以来的最高水平。过去四个月里，合同价格每年都在上涨。

3月期货乙烯交易价格为54.0-59.5美分/磅，高于2月份的32.5-51.0美分/磅。

乙烯供应正处于放松过程中，随着冬季风暴相关的停工和减产，裂解装置继续增加。

大约四分之三的美国乙烯产能受到了风暴的影响。

虽然目前大多数工厂都已上线，但风暴前的开工率尚未达到。

乙烯衍生物的强劲消费和下游的低库存继续支撑对单体的需求。

乙烯是重要的石油化工原料，用于生产聚乙烯、乙二醇和聚氯乙烯等产品。

美国主要乙烯生产商包括雪佛龙菲利普斯化学、陶氏、埃克森美孚、英力士烯烃和聚合物公司、利安德巴赛尔和壳牌化学公司。

王磊 摘译自 ICIS

原文如下：

US March ethylene contracts notch largest increase in 15 years on storm-related production issues

US March ethylene contracts for the majority of market participants have settled at an increase of 9 cents/lb ($198/tonne) from February on lingering storm-related production issues.

The month-on-month increase is the largest since October 2005.

Steam cracker outages and rate reductions caused by mid-February's winter storm resulted in much higher month-on-month spot prices, which outweighed lower cash costs in the contract price settlement.

The settlement puts contract prices at their highest levels since October 2014. Contract prices have increased in each of the past four months.

Front-month ethylene traded in March at 54.0-59.5 cents/lb, up from 32.5-51.0 cents/lb in February.

Ethylene supply is in the process of loosening as crackers continue to ramp up following winter storm-related shutdowns and rate reductions.

Around three-quarters of US ethylene capacity was affected by the storm.

While most plants are now online, pre-storm operating rates have not yet been achieved.

Strong consumption of ethylene derivatives and low inventories downstream continue to support demand for the monomer.

Ethylene is a key petrochemical feedstock, used to make PE, ethylene glycol (EG) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) among other products.

Major US ethylene producers include Chevron Phillips Chemical, Dow, ExxonMobil, INEOS Olefins & Polymers, LyondellBasell and Shell Chemical.