MOSCOW (MRC) - The supply of high density polyethylene (HDPE) in Russia fell significantly in August, which immediately led to an increase in prices. Two Russian producers will shut down their capacities for scheduled maintenance works, which will further reduce the supply of HDPE on the market, according to the ICIS-MRC Price Report.
HDPE supply was excessive in July on the Russian market in line with low demand, prices remained steady. The situation in the HDPE market will change dramatically in August. All Russian producers, due to objective reasons, have reduced the supply of HDPE to the domestic market, and the volume of imports has also decreased. The lack of polyethylene has led to a price rise and quite serious for some grades.
The upcoming turnaround of Kazanorgsintez and Stavrolen are aggravating the situation on the market. Gazprom neftekhim Salavat shut down its HDPE production for a rather lengthy repairs from 20 July. The resumption of the production is expected on 5 September.
The shutdown of the capacities in Salavat has led to a serious reduction in the supply of natural pipe HDPE in the Russian market. The situation in the market was aggravated by the postponement of the shipments of this polyethylene to the third decade of August from Stavrolen due to technical problems.
Supply of film and blow moulding HDPE was limited in August both from Russian producers and some importers.
The restrictions were partly a result of the sellers' desire to build additional stocks of polyethylene for September.
September and October, in fact, will be quite difficult for buyers of HDPE due to shutdowns of plants for repairs.
Kazanorgsintez will be the first to stop its production in mid-September for scheduled maintenance works (the annual capacity is 540,000 tonnes), the resumption of production is planned in the second decade of October.
The longest shutdown is expected at Stavrolen. The outage starts on 3 October and will last 36 days. The plant's annual production capacity is 300,000 tonnes. The most noticeable rise in price in August was for film HDPE; in the second half of the month, prices for some sellers exceeded the level of Rb130,000/tonne, including VAT and delivery.
At the same time, even at such prices, the supply of polyethylene was limited. Also, a fairly high level of prices was reported for blow moulding HDPE for small containers, prices approached the level of Rb135,000/tonne, including VAT, and delivery.