Europe November PO prices mainly soften due to feedstock costs

13 November 2009 23:59  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--European propylene oxide (PO) contract prices have mainly moved downward in November, driven by lower feedstock costs, market players said on Friday.

For non-formula-related, freely negotiated business, which remained in the minority, price movements were varied.

Decreases of €8/tonne ($12/tonne) and higher were heard for a handful of accounts.

One producer reported a few rollovers in November, citing low stock levels due to plant maintenance and good demand.

An upward price adjustment was heard on one occasion, but this was seen to be an exception rather than the norm.

European PO contract prices were assessed between to €1,224-1,300/tonne FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe), according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

This represented a reduction of €8/tonne at the low end of the spread from October and a drop of €19/tonne at the upper end, taking into account the formula pass-through level and absolute numbers reported.

Numbers on either side of the range were heard in a few cases, but they were not widely confirmed in the market.

With the end of the year approaching, PO demand remained surprisingly healthy in November, particularly for polyols and surfactants, according to market players.

“The first half of the year was poor, but the second half of the year was better than expected,” said one customer.

Ongoing plant maintenance and good demand were keeping supply balanced to short, depending on the source, but there were no reports of availability issues.

Polyether polyols are used in the manufacture of polyurethanes, in reaction with methyl di-p-phenylene isocyanate (MDI) or toluene di-isocyanate (TDI), while propylene glycols main outlet is unsaturated polyester resins (UPR).

($1 = €0.67)

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By: Heidi Finch
+44 20 8652 3214

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