MOSCOW (MRC) -- OPEC+ will closely monitor the market situation amid rising fears over the emergence of a new COVID-19 variant, but urgent decisions by the group are not necessary, reported S&P Global with reference to Russia's deputy prime minister Alexander Novak's statement Nov. 29.
The alliance is set to meet Dec. 2 to decide on January production levels amid a US -led attempt to lower prices by releasing stocks and fears over new lockdowns due to the new COVID-19 strain.
The rapidly spreading variant caused Dated Brent to plunge 11% on the day to US73.27/b on Nov. 26, according to S&P Global assessment.
"The emergence of a new variant always causes such market assessments, because various restrictive measures can be taken by the governments of different countries," Novak told reporters on the sidelines of the Russian-Chinese energy business forum, as quoted by Prime news agency.
"We need to monitor how the situation develops, we must carefully monitor the market. There is no need to make hasty decisions," Novak said.
The alliance pushed back the meeting of the OPEC+ ministerial monitoring committee to Dec. 2 to study the market situation in detail, Novak said.
At the same time, Russia does not see any need for urgent action by the OPEC+ alliance in light of rising concerns about the pandemic and there are no proposals by other OPEC+ countries to revise strategy or increase output.
As MRC informed before, demand for the products of manufacturers of polymer pipelines will grow significantly in Russia, primarily from the state. As part of the reforms in the housing and communal services sector, the fate of heating networks and water pipelines, which are worn out by 60%, will have to be decided. The required expenditures for upgrading the infrastructure amount to more than 1 trillion rubles. A large-scale municipal reform should also accelerate the process of replacing metal pipes with polymer ones in engineering networks.
Even the coronavirus pandemic has not affected the growth of the polymer segment in the past year or two. According to Rosstat, in 2020 the market for polymer pipes exceeded half a million tons, an increase of almost 15% compared to 2019. In the first nine months of this year, Russia produced 19% more polymers compared to the same period in 2020.
According to MRC's ScanPlast, the estimated consumption of PE in Russia amounted to 1,868.16 thousand tons in the first nine months of 2021, which is 18% more than in the same period a year earlier. The supply of all types of ethylene polymers increased.
MRC