European Propylene Spot Prices Show Marginal Gains on Balanced System

The European propylene spot market made marginal gains Friday amid a balanced system and resisting bearish expectations from market players, sources said.

S&P Global Platts assessed the European spot price of polymer grade propylene for delivery 3-30 days forward at Eur921/mt Friday, up Eur3.50/mt week on week and Eur0.50/mt on the day, with April pegged at MCP-1%, versus MCP flat currently for May.

Sources said sentiment was looking bearish in the market, with demand looking solid but not as strong as expected. No deals were reported in the week to Friday, with most players still away for Easter holidays.

A 7,000 mt cargo of propylene was heard fixed for mid-April from the US headed to Germany, a US trading source said. Another source added that imports did not make sense from a pricing perspective just yet amid comfortable supply availability in the European market.

Downstream demand from acrylonitrile (ACN) was set to decline, with few production outages scheduled in April.

Lukoil's Saratovorgsintez 150,000 mt/year ACN unit in Saratov, Russia, will start planned maintenance on April 9 for 10 days, a source close to the matter said.

In addition, INEOS Nitriles will undergo maintenance at its 280,000 mt/year ACN plant in Seal Sands, UK on April 9, a second source said. The turnaround is expected to last three weeks.

In the polypropylene market, the biggest demand pull for propylene, market sources said demand was expected to pick up following the previous holiday lull.