LONDON (ICIS)--The European December propylene contract price has been fully confirmed down by ┬18/tonne ($24/tonne) at ┬995/tonne on Wednesday, following second seller support.
The second settlement was reached between a second net producer and a third non-integrated buyer.
In addition, an integrated buyer said it has also followed the initial settlement with a supplier, although it was not able to disclose the name of the seller in question.
The initial propylene settlement was agreed early on Tuesday afternoon and was between two non-integrated buyers and the same net producer.
The December propylene agreement, which was concluded on a free delivered (FD) northwest Europe (NWE) basis, marks the first time that the European propylene contract price has moved back into three-digit territory since December 2010, according to ICIS price history. This follows 11 successive months of European propylene contract prices in four digits.
Some buyers said the ┬18/tonne fall was close to their original expectations of a reduction of around ┬20/tonne.
Some customers hoped for larger price reductions of ┬40-80/tonne to try to restore competitiveness with other regions, but this was not achievable in view of current feedstock costs and ailing cracker margins, and the decrease of ┬18/tonne was seen as more of a ⌠compromise, according to some buyers.
The Polymers Summit ICIS-MRC - 2011 has been held today, on Nov, 30 in the Ritz-Carlton Moscow. The main topics of the reports were devoted to the development of petrochemical market and the strategy in the market of base polymers as well as launching new polymer productions.