Weekly Mont Belvieu Propane-Butane Price Review August 11th 2023

By Godwin Okoduwa ــ Last Update 14 August 2023

Weekly Mont Belvieu Propane-Butane price review August 11th 2023

Our assessment for last week's daily Mont Belvieu propane and butane in USD/mt (0.4% down and 0.4% up respectively on the weekly average):

7th August: 382.9; 401.2

8th August: 378.9; 397.6

9th August: 375.0; 402.7

10th August: 365.7; 401.8

11th August: 359.5; 396.1

Butane prices movement was sluggish; with an average weekly increase of 0.4% - ending the week lower at 396.1 USD/MT against the previous week's close of 405.6 USD/MT.

Propane prices also closed lower with a corresponding lower average last week. This may be a result of news of a strain in China's oil demand and a drop in both Export and Import as reported by Bloomberg last week.

According to various international news sources, uncertainty has returned to the oil market this week, with the recent oil price rally having stalled due to renewed economic concerns in China ( oilprice.com). This suggests that we may not see a strong bullish trend for oil and gas prices in the short term, as there is a direct correlation between oil prices and China's demand which is responsible for about 20% of the global market.

Local LPG prices in Nigeria

Local depot prices hit 12 million; the first time since January when international prices were over 500 USD/MT. This time local prices are being driven by the Exchange rate which is hovering close to N950 per USD , from 740 per USD in January. Prices may continue to move upward if the FX rate goes adverse to the Naira. Prices are expected to remain within last week's price range for the current week.

On the retail side, there are indications that LPG prices are still in the range of N8000 to 9000 per 12.5kg in most places nationwide.