LyondellBasell declares force majeure on PP from Carrington

17 March 2010 11:33  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--LyondellBasell has declared force majeure on polypropylene (PP) supply out of its 210,000 tonne/year Carrington plant in the UK due to problems with propylene supply and not for technical reasons, said a company source on Wednesday.

“We finally managed to solve the technical issues but have had to declare force majeure due to problems receiving on-spec propylene,” said the source.

Supplies at the site were depleted after a 12-day delay to the plant's restart following a month-long planned maintenance shutdown.

A UK buyer confirmed tightness in the market.

“There is an acute shortage of some PP grades in the market at present,” he said.

Homopolymer injection PP prices were reported within a wide range in Europe, with some regional differences, but net prices were now above €1,100/tonne ($1,507/tonne) FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe). They had been at €890/tonne FD NWE at the end of December 2009.

Demand had dipped during the second half of March after a very strong start, and players were said to be waiting for the settlement of the April propylene contract before committing to more volumes. Talk for April was for an increase in the new propylene contract, which PP producers said would lead to another push for higher PP prices next month.

PP producers in Europe include LyondellBasell, Borealis, SABIC, Total Petrochemicals, Dow Chemical, Repsol, INEOS Olefins and Polymers, Polychim and Domo.

($1 = €0.73)

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By: Linda Naylor
+44 20 8652 3214

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