Dow Europe stops new April LDPE orders

08 April 2010 12:49  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Major plastics producer Dow has stopped accepting any new orders of low density polyethylene (LDPE) for April on Thursday, a company source said.

“We can’t keep up with demand,” said the source.

Polyethylene (PE) producers were targeting higher prices for April, and LDPE was widely recognised as the strongest PE grade.

Dow reported increases of around €60/tonne ($80/tonne) on LDPE for April, leaving gross prices at €1,310-1,330/tonne FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe). This price is subject to a discount, depending largely on volume.

Net prices were below this, reported in a wide range, from the high €1,100s/tonne FD NWE, as yet unconfirmed by western European selling sources, to €1,300/tonne FD NWE. The majority of business was thought to be somewhere between these two extremes.

Other PE grades fared less well than LDPE.

Linear low density PE (LLDPE) prices were moving up, but less firmly than LDPE, while buyers were looking for price reductions in the high density PE (HDPE) sector, where imports boosted supply.

Buyers were not all eager to accept increases for April, even in the strong LDPE sector and many contracts still had to be negotiated.

“I don’t see why prices should go up. I will accept nothing more than the €20/tonne in the April ethylene contract,” said one large buyer. At present, however, it was not clear whether any western European sellers would be offering at such a low price level.

LDPE availability had tightened after cutbacks and permanent shutdowns in the market during 2009.

LDPE producers in Europe include Dow, INEOS, SABIC, Borealis, LyondellBasell, BasellOrlen, Polimeri Europa, TVK and Total Petrochemicals.

($1 = €0.75)

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By: Linda Naylor
+44 20 8652 3214

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