MOSCOW (MRC) -- US propylene stocks fell to 4.062 million barrels the week ended September 6, reported S&P Global with reference to the US Energy Information Administration data released Wednesday.
This represented the first decrease for propylene inventory after steadily increasing for the past three weeks.
The lowest level of 2019 was reached one month ago when stocks fell to 3.885 million barrels the week ended August 9.
Non-fuel-use propylene stocks were down 101,000 barrels from a week earlier, though still up by 1.255 million barrels from the same time last year. The decrease came alongside slightly higher refinery utilization rates of 95.1%, up 0.3% week on week.
A source attributed the decline in propylene stock to propane dehydrogenation issues. Dow is expected to have a turnaround at its Freeport, Texas, PDH unit in early September. The company would not confirm any turnaround, but sources say the PDH unit is expected to be down for 30-60 days.
As MRC wrote previously, US propylene stocks rose to 4.117 million barrels in the week ended August 23. The increase also represented a second consecutive weekly increase for propylene inventory. The uptick comes on the heels of lower stockpiles, with levels having reached the lowest level of 2019 as recently as the week of August 9.
Propylene is the main feedstock for producing polyprolypele (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, the estimated consumption of PP in the Russian market totalled 694,210 tonnes in January-June 2019, up by 14% year on year. The supply of propylene block copolymers (PP-block) and propylene homopolymers (PP-homo) increased.
MRC