INEOS NOVA to raise Europe February PS by €75/tonne

28 January 2009 16:05  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--INEOS NOVA intends to raise its polystyrene (PS) price in Europe by €75/tonne ($99/tonne) in February, a company source said on Wednesday.

“We need to keep the current spread between styrene and PS constant,” said the source.

The company also issued a statement explaining that the feedstocks benzene, ethylene and styrene costs were all increasing on both contract and spot bases compared with early-January prices.

PS prices had fallen in January alongside the drop in January styrene monomer values, but the trend upstream had now changed.

PS demand in January improved on the weak fourth-quarter levels as buyers replenished empty stocks. But 2008 volumes were down by 11% compared with 2007, and sellers feared that buying would slow down again once the price trend began to reverse.

Buyers reacted cautiously to news of the price increases.

“Let’s wait for the new styrene settlement before talking about February prices,” said one buyer.

General purpose PS (GPPS) prices were around €730/tonne FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe) in January. Production in Europe remained at reduced levels.

European PS producers include INEOS NOVA, Dow, BASF, Total Petrochemicals and Polimeri Europa.

($1 = €0.76)

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By: Linda Naylor
+44 20 8652 3214

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