Propylene cost rises US isopropanol prices rise

According to the news on the ICIS website on December 24, the domestic and spot isopropyl alcohol (IPA) prices in the United States rose this week, and the nomination of several manufacturers last week quickly reversed the situation. In the following week, additional price increases have been noted.

In the past month, the rising cost of propylene was the main factor driving the increase in nominations.

On December 17, the propylene contract price of most market participants rose by 10 cents/lb, which was the largest month-on-month increase in contract prices since January 2017 and brought the contract price to its highest level since November 2018 .

The spot price of propylene is also quite high. The prices of chemical grade propylene (CGP) and polymer grade propylene (PGP) soared at the end of November and early December, and continued to increase in the past four weeks.

Although IPA price changes are usually driven by market fundamentals, upstream costs can also play an important role. Movements of this scale are relatively rare.