INEOS restarts 200,000 tonne/year Cologne LDPE line

19 November 2010 12:02  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--INEOS Polyolefins has restarted its 200,000 tonne/year low density polyethylene (LDPE) line at Cologne, Germany, after it was shut down over two weeks ago because of technical problems, a company source said on Friday.

INEOS Polyolefins did not reveal the exact date 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 in Europe was tight and prices were firm. Dow Chemical announced a €70/tonne ($96/tonne) increase in its prices of polyethylene in December.

LDPE net levels were trading around €1,300/tonne FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe) at 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.

Strikes in France last month and unplanned and scheduled production outages have left the market tight. Demand for LDPE has also been better than expected.

($1 = €0.73)

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By: Linda Naylor
+44 20 8652 3214

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