Ineos Styrolution increased PS prices in Europe

Ineos Styrolution (Frankfurt) wants to raise prices for polystyrene in April - the company raised the gross market price for PS-GP by EUR60/tonne, said Kunststoffweb.

PS-HI is expected to become more expensive by the same amount, as the premium for the impact-resistant material remains unchanged at EUR100/tonne. In February and March, horsepower prices had already risen sharply - in three digits.

The styrene reference rose by EUR44/tonne in April. The costs for the additive butadiene rose by EUR70/tonne.

We remind, in March, Ineos Styrolution, a subsidiary of the prominent European petrochemical producer Ineos, has made a notable decision to increase the prices of its Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) products in the United States. The impetus behind this price adjustment stems from the escalating costs associated with the production and delivery of materials, a circumstance communicated to customers through an official letter from the manufacturer.

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Trinseo , a specialty material solutions provider, and its affiliate companies in Europe, announced a price increase for all polystyrene (PS), ABS and SAN grades, said the company.

Effective April 1, 2024, or depending on existing contract terms, the prices for the products listed below will increase as follows:

STYRON™ and STYRON™ X-TECH general purpose polystyrene grades (GPPS) by +55 Euro per metric ton

STYRON™ and STYRON™ A-TECH, STYRON™ C-TECH and STYRON™ X- TECH high impact polystyrene grades (HIPS) by +55 Euro per metric ton

MAGNUM™ ABS resins by +60 Euro per metric ton

TYRIL™ SAN resins by +660 Euro per metric ton

We remind, Trinseo PLC (Wayne, Pennsylvania) has advanced plans to divest its styrenics businesses by initiating the sale of its 50% stake in Americas Styrenics LLC (AmSty; The Woodlands, Texas), said the company. Trinseo, which expects to find a buyer within a year, said the proceeds will be used to pay down a portion of the recently issued $1.077 billion of term loans maturing in 2028.

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In March 2024, the price of styrene rose again sharply - the base contract jumped by EUR222 per tonne - leading to further increases in the prices of polystyrene, expanded polystyrene and ABS, said Kunststoffweb.

For polystyrene, price increases were often at or just below the full monomer increase, while for EPS the increases were only slightly lower. ABS prices also rose sharply as suppliers typically demanded that composites costs, which increased by around EUR150/t, be fully included in the price and sometimes - especially for extrusion materials - a little more.

Already weak demand has fallen further due to sharp increases in prices. Processors are trying to ride out the current boom by not ordering more product than is absolutely necessary. They will probably have to wait until at least April. At the beginning of the second quarter, the price of SM increased again, although “only” by EUR44/tonne. Processors are now hoping for an improvement in the situation in May.

We remind, SIBUR is considering the possibility of implementing a polystyrene production project with capacity of 250,000 tonnes per year with completion of construction no later than 2028. Earlier, the company's executive director Alexander Petrov said that several options are being considered for processing ethylene produced at the EP-600 complex under construction at Nizhnekamskneftekhim , including production of styrene and polystyrene.

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INVISTA, an industry leader in the nylon 6,6 and polypropylene value chains, today announced its intent to explore strategic alternatives for its nylon fibers business, said the company.

This includes INVISTA’s fiber-focused portfolio: airbag and industrial fibers, the CORDURA® businesses, and five supporting global manufacturing locations: Seaford, Delaware; Martinsville, Virginia; Kingston, Ontario, Canada; Gloucester, UK; and Qingpu, China.

“Consistent with our Principle Based Management™ business philosophy, INVISTA continuously assesses the external value of assets to make sure they are owned by the company best positioned to grow the business,” said Francis Murphy, INVISTA President and CEO. “Nylon fibers is a great business, and we believe there are other companies with different focus and capabilities that could create even greater value with those assets. If, however, through this process, we find that other companies don’t value it more highly, we’ll continue to operate the business.”

Regardless of a potential transaction to divest its nylon fibers business, INVISTA will continue supplying its global nylon and propylene value chain customers with intermediates, polymers and specialty chemicals. If INVISTA were to proceed, it would also result in a simplification and strengthened focus on its long-term competitive positions in the upstream nylon and propylene value chain businesses.

The nylon fiber assets are a major part of the current INVISTA footprint, and it would be premature to speculate on the final structure of a potential deal. Details of the business and exploration process are confidential. INVISTA has engaged Barclays as Exclusive Financial Advisor during this exploration process.

We remind, INVISTA’s site in Victoria, Texas, has achieved Gold Certified Wildlife Habitat Council Conservation Certification® for its commitment to environmental stewardship and conservation efforts. Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC) promotes and certifies habitat conservation and management on corporate lands through partnerships and education.

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Russia's Orsk oil refinery, which has halted output after widespread floods, declared force majeure on fuel supplies from April 8, according to Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Russia's oil refineries were already struggling with Ukrainian drone attacks and technical outages, forcing the country to ban gasoline exports, with some exceptions, for half a year from March 1.

Forteinvest said the plant had been shut to avoid ecological risks and ensure labor safety. Last year the refinery processed 4.5 MMt of oil.

Floods engulfed cities and towns across Russia and Kazakhstan on Wednesday after Europe's third-longest river burst its banks, forcing about 110,000 people to evacuate and swamping parts of the Russian city of Orenburg.

Upstream on the Ural, which flows into Kazakhstan, floodwaters burst through an embankment dam in the city of Orsk on Friday.

Russia's energy ministry played down the force majeure, saying it was not consequential for the market, RIA news agency reported, as most of the Orsk refinery units had already been shut for planned maintenance before the floods.

It said just 0.1% of the planned motor fuel production for April in Russia would be affected.

Forteinvest said in emailed comments separately that the Orsk refinery was still dispatching fuel from its stockpiles "for the needs of the region".

"Forteinvest company does not forfeit its obligations but warns that the timing of product shipments may be delayed," it said.

We remind, Russian oil producer Lukoil expects its damaged CDU-6 primary unit and catalytic cracker at the NORSI oil refinery to return to operations in the second quarter following seasonal maintenance, a company source said on Wednesday. The source also said that the damaged CDU-5 unit at the Volgograd refinery was put back into work on Feb. 21 and was now working in line with its designed capacity.

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