Polypropylene prices poised to rise amid tighter supplies

02-Jun-14

Polypropylene spot prices could see a rise on the back of tighter supply arising from production issues, as per sources in Platts. The lack of availability in May was attributed partly to Total's maintenance at Feluy, and a force majeure at ExxonMobil's Lillebonne site. PP homo injection spot prices had remained stable at Eur 1282.50/mt (US$1766) FD NWE for the duration of May, but rallied Eur 5/mt higher on Wednesday to Eur 1287.50/mt FD NWE. This rise was attributed by sources to tightening supply. One trader opined, "Customers are looking to buy, and they can't find the product. It's very tight." ExxonMobil declared force majeure on polypropylene supplies out of its Lillebonne site, France, as it had encountered a "breakdown beyond control" causing a temporary interruption of its production of polypropylene. ExxonMobil was not immediately available for comment. The capacity of the plant is 180,000 mt/year. The tightness of supplies was expected to be exacerbated following Total beginning maintenance at its polyolefin site in Feluy, Belgium on Tuesday. Feluy has three PP production units with a combined capacity of over 900,000 mt/year and a 170,000 mt/year metallocene polyethylene plant at the site.