- Still weak Petrochemical Demand- East-West spreads



Sources said that Europe's petrochemical
demand for naphtha was still low despite recent increases. This is despite
strong fundamentals and fierce competition with propane. Sources said that Q1
[2023] is better than Q4[2022], which was when things got very difficult, but
the general condition is still not good as end-user demand remains weak." "[Also], crackers will use as much LPG [instead] of
naphtha at this point." Sources say
propane is the preferred fuel for flexi-crackers across Northwest Europe
because of its steep discount to naphtha. A
source stated that crackers will switch to LPG with a $140/mt discount. CIF NWE propane swap discount for the equivalent naphtha
swap was reduced by 50 cents/mt to $144.50/mt. The Total Energies Zeeland 180,000b/d refinery in Flushing
(the Netherlands) has completed its maintenance....