Saudi Aramco cut April propane prices to Asia as weak demand persists

Saudi Arabia’s oil and gas giant – Saudi Aramco has opened April shipment propane prices to contract customers in Asia with drastic decreases from March, setting the two-month losing streak. 

Demand is fading in the Northeast Asia region as the northern Hemisphere is about to enter the summer season. Meanwhile, supply is seen improving in the Middle East following the maintenance shutdown at Saudi’s Yanbu, according to market sources.  

The latest offer stands at $555/ton, FOB from the port of Ras Tanura.

The price provides a benchmark against which Middle East sales of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Asia are priced. 

The producer’s price list for propane and butane are shown in the following table:

Propane is a primary feedstock used by propane dehydrogenation (PDH) operators in producing propylene monomers.

In recent weeks, a number of steam crackers in Asia have switched to using more LPG in relation to naphtha to improve production margins, however, the demand from this sector is still not strong enough to steer the pricing.