Restart of Al-Waha PP eases supply, pushes prices down

19 July 2010 10:55  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Polypropylene (PP) supply in the Middle East has eased with the restart of Al-Waha Petrochemical Co's plant unit at Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia, causing prices to decline, market sources said on Monday.

“The tightness caused by the un-scheduled shutdown of the Al-Waha plant has disappeared, and some suppliers have begun to lower their price indications,” a trader said.

Homopolymer PP prices were assessed $20-30/tonne (€15-23/tonne) down in the Middle East to $1,250-1,280/tonne CFR (cost and freight) for raffia and injection grades last Friday, according to ICIS.

The Al-Waha plant came down in late June due to technical issues and restarted only in early July.

"The plant was restarted ten days ago and its operating rate has been gradually ramped up to full capacity," a source close to the company said.

Al-Waha Petrochemical is a 75:25 joint venture between Sahara Petrochemical Co and LyondellBasell.

($1 = €0.77)

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By: Prema Viswanathan
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