Producers nominate 3-5-cent June C2 hike in US

31 May 2007 22:07  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Producers have nominated price increases of 3-5 cents/lb ($66.14-$110.23/tonne) for US June ethylene contracts, partly due to narrow margins; but buyers argued that an increase of this magnitude was not warranted, market sources said on Thursday.

A producer said that substantial increases were needed to improve margins. Additionally, supply was tight due to a series of minor production issues at olefins units, the producer said.

A buyer said that an increase was a likely outcome due to high feedstock costs, but said that a 1.5-2.5-cent increase was more likely.

May ethylene settled at 44.5 cents/lb ($981/tonne), according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

Chevron Phillips, Equistar, ExxonMobil, INEOS and Shell are among the major producers of ethylene in the US. Dow Chemical, Georgia Gulf, Occidental Chemical and Total are among the buyers.

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Author: Mark Quiner
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