Price hikes in Italy's PE market amid supply issues

17-Nov-15

In Italy, players reported that the overall spot PE market levels were firmer on the week, by around €10-20/ton. Sellers see support from tight supplies when achieving their hike targets. A buyer who purchased their monthly quotas from a Northwest European producer confirmed limited availability while another buyer told ChemOrbis that their supplier has warned them about possible further hikes. A distributor, who sold out their November LDPE film in the local market, noted that they will be seeking further increases in the days ahead. A trader offering on behalf of a South European producer reported issuing €20/ton hikes for their November cargoes while adding that they heard even higher increase amounts of around €80-100/ton from other producers in the market. “Overall supply is very tight and we already sold out our HDPE blow moulding cargoes,” he further added. A compounds maker confirmed the tight supplies and further increase talks and said, “We purchased some HDPE blow moulding, LDPE and LLDPE film with €20-60/ton hikes from October levels. Sellers are talking about further hike requests in the upcoming weeks, pointing to short supplies. Meanwhile, our South European producer has already sold out for November and now they are mulling over a new round of increases on short supplies.” A different converter operating in the packaging sector said, “We made some purchases from a West European producer as well as some locally held Middle Eastern cargoes. The HDPE film prices that we have been receiving are increasing lately and we were informed by traders that they might be seeking further hikes of €50-60/ton later in the month, owing to the tight supplies.” In production news, Basell Orlen Polyolefins, a joint venture between LyondellBasell and PKN Orlen, was reported to have come across a technical problem mid-last week at their 320,000 tpa HDPE plant located in Poland. According to market sources, the problem resulted in reduced output. Meanwhile, Ineos is planning to conduct a maintenance shutdown at their 450,000 tpa HDPE plant, located in Belgium. The company plans to shut down their Lillo plant in the week of November 16 for two weeks as reported on www.ChemOrbis.com.