MOSCOW (MRC) -- The total volume of imports volume of polypropylene (PP) to the Russian market increased to 22,500 tonnes on the back of domestic deficit in April. Over the fortnight in May, this figure exceeded 10,000 tonnes, according to MRC analysts.
The deficit resulted from a number of reasons: the accident at Stavrolen in the middle of December 2011, the suspension of the supply of Ukrainian PP, traffic jams in the Caspian Sea in the beginning of the year, which led to the disruption of delivery terms of PP from Turkmenistan.
Due to the limited supply of PP from Russian producers and seasonal hike in demand, local companies in April began actively contracting the feedstock in external markets, including Asia and the Middle East, as per MRC analyst, Sergei Karaychentsev. In April, imports of PP to Russia grew by 16% compared with March volumes and reached 22,500 tonnes.
Imports of PP homo expectedly increased by 27% and made about 12,700 tonnes last month. About 9,000 tonnes from the total imports made PP-homo from Turkmenbashi oil refinery. Imports of block copolymers of propylene increased only by 5%, the export supply of stat- copolymer of propylene, on the contrary, decreased by 17%.
Over the first fortnight of May, the imports of polypropylene to the Russian market exceeded 10,000 tonnes. The geography of supply substantially widened: PP-homo from Egypt, Iran and UAE entered the market. The supply of PP from South Korea increased substantially.
MRC