INEOS delays restart of Cologne LDPE line

16 November 2010 10:18  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--The restart of INEOS's 200,000 tonne/year low density polyethylene (LDPE) line at Cologne in Germany has been delayed because of technical problems following an unplanned shutdown, a company source said on Tuesday.

It will now be back up on 17 November or 18 November, the source said.

“We tried to restart yesterday [15 November] but there were some problems and we expect it to be back up by Wednesday or Thursday,” the source said.

No exact date was revealed as to when the line failed, but the outage was thought to have lasted around two weeks.

INEOS produces 400,000 tonnes/year of LDPE and 230,000 tonnes/year of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) at the Cologne site.

LDPE availability was tight in Europe and prices were firm.

LDPE net levels were approaching €1,300/tonne ($1,757/tonne) FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe) for smaller accounts and those which needed quick delivery, while larger buyers and those in less need of immediate delivery were at €1,250/tonne FD NWE.

Prices had been at €1,200/tonne FD NWE in early October.

French strikes in October and unplanned and planned production outages left the market tight. Demand for LDPE has also been better than expected.

($1 = €0.74)

For more on INEOS visit ICIS company intelligence
To discuss issues facing the chemical industry go to ICIS connect

By: Linda Naylor
+44 20 8652 3214

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly