Turkish polypropylene prices continued to fall back from the highs of a couple of weeks ago as bearish sentiment permeates the market on improving availability, sources said this week.
Prices fell to $1,218/mt, down $32/mt on the week and off from $1,308/mt two weeks ago, the highest since July 2015.
“Demand has almost disappeared, and supply has eased… with traders and distributors attempting to liquidate stocks, and also suppliers’ allocations for Turkey were increased due to better netback than Asia,” one trader said.
The CFR Far East Asia PP raffia market was assessed at $1,035/mt Wednesday, as Chinese domestic prompt prices stabilized.
Looking into Q2, the market remains relatively bullish, with tightness in polypropylene supplies from the Borouge joint venture’s petrochemical complex at Ruwais in the UAE expected to continue for around six months, Mark Garrett, CEO of Borealis — which co-owns Borouge with state-owned ADNOC — said in February.
Polypropylene supplies from Borouge turned tight following a fire at ADNOC’s 840,000 b/d Takreer refinery on January 11.
The refinery supplies feedstock propylene to Borouge. It restarted production within a week of the incident.
Propylene from the refinery is used to produce up to about 800,000 mt/year of polypropylene at the Borouge 3 plant.
