Crude oil prices have been on a major uptrend rally since the beginning of February, however, the climb in crude oil prices has been more volatile since the beginning of the Ukraine Invasion by Russia. During the last week of February, crude oil prices first break USD 100/b mark and then in early March both WTI and Brent prices crossed USD 110/b.

Linear Alpha Olefins (LAOs) prices have been firm in the global market as soaring crude oil prices left limited space for refiners to restrict the inflation to be transferred on downstream derivatives. Consequently, Hexene has observed a strong uptrend in the prices in the global market.

LAOs have been among the most varied range of petrochemicals that cater to a myriad downstream industries including surfactants, detergents and others. However, the production has been scattered among a few manufacturers globally where Japanese Chemical company Idemitsu, British Petrochemical heavyweights Shell and INEOS, US Chemical Giant Chevron Phillips and Saudi Conglomerate (SABIC) are the only ones that produce a complete range of LAOs and cater to the supply, worldwide.

Hexene, a Linear Alpha Olefin, has also mirrored the strong uptrend in LAOs and the prices have been on a bullish rally since the beginning of February, globally. Limited availability of producers and versatile use of Hexene have meant strong demand pressure and market participants have been opportunistic and gaining from the strong demand in the market.

Hexene prices in Saudi Arabia were assessed at USD 3418 per MT on an FOB basis after the conclusion of last week of February while in the USA hexene prices stood at USD 3555 per MT on an FOB basis. European prices have also strengthened and gained close to 2% in February and were assessed at USD 2910 per MT on CFR basis.