Weekly Mont Belvieu Propane - Butane Price Review November 4th 2022

By LPG in Nigeria ــ Last Update 07 November 2022

Our assessment for last week's daily Mont Belvieu propane and butane in USD/mt (1.4% and 2.2% up respectively on the weekly average):

31st October: 449.2; 451.6
1st November: 458.8; 457.7
2nd November: 458.8; 462.3
3rd November: 444.0; 452.4
4th November: 458.8; 465.5

LPG Butane prices closed by about 2% higher, closing at 465.5 USD/MT against the previous week's close of 454.4 USD/MT. Propane prices followed the same trend, but closed lower by 1% i.e. closed at 458.8 USD/MT against the previous week's close of 453.8 USD/MT. The upward trend didn't continue at the same rate compared to last week. This suggests that there are factors keeping prices from flying off. The 27th annual U.N. climate talks ( COP27) opened yesterday in Egypt, with developing or poorer nations asking for compensation for being responsible for a significant portion of climate change affecting the Globe negatively. Back to international prices, Crude prices inched closer to 100 USD but pulled back from China's COVID lockdown news. The US seems to be undecided on whether more oil wells would be drilled, while France is looking at Nuclear power and other oil alternatives as Energy cost bites and inflation soars across the globe. On the local side, the increase in the Naira/USD Foreign Exchange hasn't didn't impact the market last week as prices remained at 12.3 Million Naira per 20MT or lower, although, prices hit 12.5 Million at some depots early this week. USD/Naira Foreign Exchange is a major factor for pricing, especially for imported LPG which is a significant LPG source in Nigeria. As we move towards the end of the year, the price would be determined mainly by the direction of the USD/Naira exchange rate and international LPG prices which have become very unpredictable.