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Liquefied Gas: Strong international demand supports prices; domestic propane reaches new highs. Author/Source: Zhongyu Information. Date: 2018-09-17. Clicks: 801. This summer, during a period of low demand, the domestic propane market experienced a remarkable turnaround and continued to rise in price. Entering September, the propane market continued to show upward momentum, breaking through levels not seen in nearly 4 years and constantly setting new highs for the year. According to data from Zhongyu Information, as of September 13, the average price of propane in the domestic market was 5,637 yuan per ton. This represented the 22nd consecutive day of price increases, and based on the current market trends, it seems that the upward trend will continue without any signs of stopping. Overall, low supply levels remain an important supporting factor for the market; not only is the domestic supply low, but the volume of imported resources arriving at the market is also low, which provides some momentum for the domestic market. With the arrival of autumn, demand for propane in the domestic market remains strong, and both upstream and downstream players are active. Although overall prices in the domestic market are quite high, there is still demand from downstream users to purchase the product. On the other hand, the cost of imported resources has been notably high this year. Affected by Sino-US trade tensions, prices of goods from the Middle East are high, and the cost of importing resources produced in the United States is even higher. Coupled with the decline in the value of the RMB, the increase in import costs has become even more pronounced. The domestic liquefied gas market is highly dependent on imports, and rising import costs will undoubtedly drive up prices in the domestic market. Not only that, but with September marking the peak season for typhoons, the arrival of imported resources has also been affected to some extent. Since the second half of this year, domestic first-tier warehouses have maintained manageable inventory levels; even when ships arrived, it had no significant impact on the market. Of course, at present, the overall prices in the domestic market are already high; even when taking the import costs into account, these prices remain at a relatively high level, and there seems to be little room for further increases in the market. However, domestic market demand will remain strong. The drop in temperatures may lead to an increasing demand for propane in the northern regions, while the overall domestic supply is unlikely to increase significantly in the short term; thus, the factors supporting the domestic propane market remain evident. An upward trend with difficulty in declining will remain the dominant pattern in the propane market.