Venezuela PP supply shrinking, Aug prices stable

08 August 2008 18:44  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Propilven, Venezuela’s local polypropylene (PP) producer, kept domestic prices unchanged in August amid critical shortages of monomer and polymer, a transformer said on Friday.

Venezuelan PP prices were still in the range of $2,170-2,214/tonne (€1,411-1,439/tonne) free on truck (FOT) for raffia and injection homopolymers, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

PP production lines have been stopped for two weeks, and supply is currently very tight in Venezuela. Companies with small or no emergency inventories were desperately looking for alternatives to remain operational in the short term.

Larger companies that had no immediate supply needs were also looking for material outside the country, fearing that normal supply may not be restored soon. Companies were on allocation and receiving only a fraction of their requirements, the source said.

The stoppage was due to lack of raw materials, because olefins production lines were also said to be down. Venezuela was also looking for monomer in the international market, the source said.

To alleviate the situation, the local producer was looking to import product from any viable source. Propilven was said to be in direct conversation with Colombia’s Propilco to secure PP supplies, sources said. Propilven sources were not immediately available to comment on this subject.

PP was tight in the whole region due to turnarounds in Brazil and insufficient feedstock in Chile and Argentina. Mexico’s producer Indelpro was also reporting tight supply, and it was concentrating efforts on keeping its own domestic market supplied.

PP shipments appeared to be flowing faster from the US Gulf, but it was not clear if export material was readily available for shipment to South America.

Internal demand remained strong in Venezuela, aggravating the supply shortages.

($1 = €0.65)

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By: George Martin
+1 713 525 2653

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