Propylene polymer grade contract prices for the Mexican domestic market in October went up slightly over September, said a Pemex source.
Following the 5% price increase, propylene polymer grade prices were around $1,755/mt FOB or in the local currency at Pesos 23,623/mt FOB.
"Even though propylene prices in the US were having decreases, our contract price jumped a little because of the weakness of pesos against the dollar," added the source.
On the production side, Pemex's steam crackers were working at 90% rates this week.
"We believe we should have the crackers working at regular rates (at least 95%) in the next days after we managed to solve the problems we had in the stabilization process," said a second source.
The three Pemex steam crackers went on an emergency shutdown three weeks ago after an incident with an ethane processor in Tabasco caused by flooding that shut down the crackers for one day.
Details of the impact of the emergency shutdowns were unavailable. Pemex has a propylene production capacity of 14,400 mt/year at Morelos and Cangrejera, in the state of Veracruz.
Still in production, Pemex postponed the plans to carry out a project to increase output of chemical-grade propylene for acrylonitrile production more than sixfold by November 15.
Pemex started the Minatitlan expansion project two years ago with the goal of addressing a monthly deficit of 6,000-7,000 mt of CGP in Mexico, which was resulting in the need to import.
Pemex's Minatitlan expansion project in Veracruz state was expected to be online in the middle of August, but construction was postponed until November due to technical problems.
The company currently produces about 1,500 mt/month of propylene for ACN production between the crackers at Morelos and Cangrejera.
With the Minatitlan expansion, the company could produce up to 10,000 mt monthly of CGP, which not only would make the company self-sufficient, but also allow it to build inventories, a company source said.
