Conway Spots Dip, Belvieu Little Changed

Spot propane at Conway dipped a penny Thursday compared to the Friday, May 23 email Update, while Mont Belvieu trading in non-LST product had scratched out a meager quarter-cent gain. LST had not moved. Early-week activity saw propane at both hubs trading higher coming off the long Memorial Day weekend, with deals getting done at Conway in the 103.50-104.00 cents/gal. range and Belvieu at 105.75-106.625 cents/gal. Traders commented it was a slow grind at both locations late in the week as market watchers keenly awaited the Thursday propane inventory report from the Energy Information Administration (EIA), delayed a day due to the Monday national holiday.

The Group 140 (Conway) bid and offer mid-morning Thursday stood at 102.50-103.625 cents/gal., off a penny for buyers and a half cent for sellers compared to the previous Friday. As of press time, low and high deals done were reported at 102.625 and 103.625 cents.
Mont Belvieu non-LST was at 105.00-105.625 cents/gal., higher by a quarter cent for buyers and 0.375 cents for sellers, with a single trade posted at 105.25 cents. LST spots, at 105.00-105.50 cents/gal., were unchanged for buyers and down 0.625 cents for sellers. Low and high deals were reported at 105.25 and 105.375 cents.

Hattiesburg spot propane had gained 4 cents for buyers and 3.5 cents for sellers between the two reporting periods to stand at 104.50-105.50 cents/gal. mid-morning Thursday. However, no trades had been done, leaving the bid and offer untested.

On the Canadian side, Edmonton spots also stepped up, to 75.00-75.75 cents/gal. for a gain of 1.5 cents for buyers and 1.75 cents for sellers. Sarnia propane, at 114.50-114.625 cents/gal., hardened by a penny for buyers and 0.875 cents for sellers over the same period.

Elsewhere, NYMEX crude oil futures steadied Thursday ahead of the EIA fuels inventory reports, this after falling sharply in the previous session on expectations of a large build. Crude for July delivery rose $0.17, or 0.17%, to $102.90/bbl. Wednesday trading saw that commodity losing $1.39, or 1.3%, of its value to stand at $102.72/bbl, a one-week low. At the same time, natural gas for July had dipped a bit to $4.605 MMBtu.