U.S. Gulf Coast ethane cracker margins have come back to earth after several weeks of extraordinary profitability. The decline has been driven primarily by lower ethylene and propylene prices, which have reduced representative Gulf Coast steam cracker margins based on spot ethane feedstock costs and spot olefin prices. Even so, margins remain healthy by historical standards.
The chart on the right shows the rapid rise and fall in these representative spot margins. Margins currently stand near 19¢/lb, down from almost 30¢/lb in April (red dashed oval), but still above the long-term average of about 15¢/lb (left graph).
