Imports boost European ethylene market, as propylene tightens

07-Jun-16

Imports have boosted supply in Europe's ethylene market offsetting disruptions in French production, while propylene continues to tighten amid the ongoing refinery strikes, market sources said last week, as per Platts. Ethylene FD Northwest European prices were assessed flat Friday at Eur898/mt while polymer grade propylene was up Eur23/mt to Eur643/mt on Friday. Ethylene is produced from a steam cracker, while propylene is produced from both a steam cracker and a refinery. Because of the impact of the refinery strikes, propylene availability has been reduced, which has increased prices. Meanwhile, force majeures on downstream cracker products like polyethylene and polypropylene have limited the impacted on ethylene and propylene from crackers.

French oil major Total said that 94% of the staff at its Donges refinery had voted to restart the plant. But the CGT union said in a statement Monday that its members are still in discussions on whether to extend their strike action in the country. One propylene buyer said that the impact from the refinery strikes had been exacerbated by standalone derivative units needing feedstock.

One ethylene buyer said the European market was well supplied. He added that there were cargoes from the US and also loading from Middle East. At the end of May a broker reported that a 6,700 mt ethylene cargo had been fixed for delivery from Houston into Europe, arriving in early June, with an open arbitrage window between the regions. According to the latest data from Eurostat, ethylene imports to the EU from the US rose to 20,871 mt in the first quarter from nothing in Q1 2015.