AVERAGE QUARTERLY INDUSTRY PRICES (1)
Average domestic prices | June 30, 2021 | September 30, 2021 | December 31, 2021 | March 31, 2022 | June 30, 2022 |
Ethane (cents/lb) (3) | 8.7 | 11.7 | 13.2 | 13.5 | 19.7 |
Natural gas ($/MMBtu) (2) | 2.9 | 4.0 | 5.8 | 4.8 | 7.2 |
Propane (cents/lb) (4) | 20.7 | 27.6 | 29.5 | 30.7 | 29.5 |
Ethylene (cents/lb) (5) | 43.0 | 48.0 | 35.4 | 37.6 | 28.4 |
Polyethylene (cents/lb) (6) | 99.0 | 109.0 | 92.0 | 79.3 | 84.0 |
Styrene (cents/lb) (7) | 90.5 | 82.0 | 84.8 | 91.3 | 115.6 |
Caustic soda ($/short ton) (8) | 755 | 825 | 920 | 972 | 1,077 |
Chlorine ($/short ton) (9) | 309 | 443 | 563 | 680 | 799 |
PVC (cents/lb) (10) | 105.0 | 109.0 | 114.3 | 113.3 | 117.0 |
Average export prices | June 30, 2021 | September 30, 2021 | December 31, 2021 | March 31, 2022 | June 30, 2022 |
Polyethylene (cents/lb) (11) | 89.7 | 86.0 | 72.7 | 69.6 | 76.7 |
Caustic Soda ($/short ton) (12) | 333 | 364 | 573 | 617 | 706 |
PVC (cents/lb) (13) | 77.8 | 74.1 | 90.0 | 72.6 | 74.5 |
Housing Starts (in thousands of units) | June 30, 2021 | September 30, 2021 | December 31, 2021 | March 31, 2022 | June 30, 2022 |
Housing Starts - Actual quarterly starts (14) | 435 | 419 | 389 | 395 | 450 |
Housing Starts - Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate (15) | 1,588 | 1,562 | 1,670 | 1,753 | 1,652 |
(1) Industry pricing data was obtained through IHS Markit ("IHS"). We have not independently verified the data.
(2) Average Burner Tip contract prices of natural gas over the period.
(3) Average Mont Belvieu spot prices of purity ethane over the period.
(4) Average Mont Belvieu spot prices of non-TET propane over the period.
(5) Average North American spot prices of ethylene over the period.
(6) Average North American Net Transaction prices of polyethylene low density GP-Film grade over the period.
(7) Average North American contract prices of styrene over the period.
(8) Average USGC-CSLi index values for caustic soda over the period. As stated by IHS, "the caustic soda price listing represents the USGC-CSLi values. USGC-CSLi does not reflect contract price discounts, implementation lags, caps or other adjustments factors. Additionally, it is not intended to represent a simple arithmetic average of all market transactions occurring during the month. Rather, the USGC-CSLi is most representative of the month-to-month caustic soda price movement for contract volumes of liquid 50% caustic soda rather than the absolute value of contract prices at a particular point in time. It is intended to serve only as a benchmark."
(9) Average North American contract prices of chlorine over the period.
(10) Average North American contract prices of pipe grade polyvinyl chloride ("PVC") over the period. As stated by IHS, "the contract resin prices posted reflect an "index" or "market" for prices before discounts, rebates, incentives, etc."
(11) Average North American export price for low density polyethylene GP-Film grade over the period.
(12) Average North American low spot export prices of caustic soda over the period.
(13) Average North American spot export prices of PVC over the period.
(14) Quarterly Single and Multi-family Starts data per the U.S. Census Bureau - [April 19, 2022] report.
(15) Quarterly Average Single and Multi-family Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate data per the U.S. Census Bureau - [April 19, 2022] report.