Brazil’s Braskem seeks R200/tonne PE price hikes for Jan

09 December 2009 21:07  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Brazil’s Braskem is planning to increase the price of all grades of polyethylene (PE) by Brazilian reais (R)200/tonne ($114/tonne, €78/tonne) effective on 1 January, a company source said on Wednesday.

The source attributed the increase to cost pressures, particularly from petrochemical naphtha in Brazil.

As of 4 December, low density PE (LDPE) prices in Brazil were at $2,105-2,222/tonne FOT (free on truck), with other grades at slightly lower levels, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

Domestic demand has been strong in Brazil for 2009 and is expected to carry over into 2010, the source said.

The measure has some risks, considering that import volumes from traders have been increasing in the last two months in addition to the volumes that Dow Chemical regularly sends to Brazil from Argentina, estimated to be 30,000 tonnes/month.

Additionally, January is seasonally a summer vacation month in Brazil, when prices tend to go down.

Other producers were said to be planning increases for January, but details of the planned measures have not surfaced.

($1 = €0.68)
($1 = R1.76)

For more on polyethylene  visit ICIS chemical intelligence
ICIS has launched weekly pricing reports in Africa for polyethylene and polypropylene. For more information contact Nadine Spoeri
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By: George Martin
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