Tech issues still beset Polimeri Feluy HIPS output

19 October 2007 10:56  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Polimeri Europa’s high impact polystyrene (HIPS) production in Feluy, Belgium is still down after technical problems brought it to a standstill earlier this month, a company source said on Friday.

“We are still having difficulties but should know by next week when the plant will be back up,” the source said.

Polimeri Europa’s PS production at Feluy runs at 160,000 tonnes/year, split evenly between general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) and HIPS.

GPPS was not affected by production issues.

October PS pricing was still under discussion at several large accounts as dissatisfied buyers attempted to gain more of the styrene advantage than producers were prepared to give.

The October styrene contracts were done in a range of €1,005-1,060/tonne ($1,436-1,514/tonne) FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe), from the September range of €1,045-1,056/tonne.

The mid-point of the new range represented a drop of €18/tonne from the mid-point of the September range, but some PS buyers were looking for the maximum drop of €40/tonne.

They were unlikely to achieve this in the current market, sources said, but were currently not happy to settle at only minus €18/tonne from September.

GPPS net prices were trading in the low-€1,200s/tonne FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe) on a net basis, down by around €20/tonne from September, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

($1 = €0.70)

By: Linda Naylor
+44 20 8652 3214

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