Morning Briefing - 01 September 2026
MORNING BRIEFING
CommoPlast Tuesday, 01 September 2026
Market Movement
|
Brent Crude · $/BBL |
|
WTI Crude · $/BBL |
|
90.49 |
85.76 |
|
|
▲2.39 |
▲2.36 |
|
▲ Naphtha CFR Japan |
|
▲ Ethylene CFR NEA |
|
▲ Ethylene CFR SEA |
|
▲ Propylene FOB Korea |
|
▲ Propylene CFR China |
Closing prices, previous trading day. Monomers show direction only.
Today’s Developments
PLANTs · south korea
South Korea's cracker outages deepen as LG Chem sidelines two Yeosu units
South Korea's polyolefins supply is set to tighten as LG Chem prepares to take one of its Yeosu cracker offline for maintenance for nearly two months, joining another unit which has been down since a March feedstock disruption. Together the outages pull over nearly two million tons a year of ethylene and close to half a million tons of propylene off the table at a time when South Korean standalone producers are already squeezed by high feedstock costs and weak downstream margins, prompting wider industry consolidation to trim regional cracking capacity. With both units idle in parallel, expect South Korean-origin ethylene and propylene availability to stay thin into year end, keeping regional spot premiums firm.
Read more:
LG Chem to idled Yeosu hub as No. 1 cracker turnaround leaves 1.95 mil tons of ethylene offline
lpg · asia
Saudi Aramco lifts September LPG CP as US-Iran tensions rattle Middle East supply
Saudi Aramco has raised its September propane and butane contract prices, with butane seeing the sharper jump, as fresh US-Iran military action adds to an already tight supply picture. Regional export flows to Asia have stayed well below pre-conflict levels for months, and the widening propane-butane spread points to particular strain on butane volumes. Analysts note the renewed strikes hit at a time when Asian buyers already have limited options, with both Middle East and US flows facing disruption.
Attention is now turning to the knock-on effect for feedstocks, with participants asking what this means for propylene in particular. Naphtha, propylene and ethylene all opened sharply higher week-on-week, raising questions over how sustainable the uptrend can be.
Yet, consensus now maintains that buyers to stay on the sidelines on a wait-and-see basis rather than chase the market higher, with that caution likely to persist until there's more clarity on the conflict and feedstock pricing finds firmer footing.
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