Unplanned outages at Sabic's Wilton, UK, cracker and Borealis' Stenungsund, Sweden, cracker may cause availability shortages in the European propylene coastal market, sources have told S&P Global Platts.
The Wilton cracker, which has an annual propylene capacity of 415,000 mt was shut on June 17 due to technical issues and is not expected to come back online for another two weeks.
Borealis' Stenungsund cracker unit has remained offline longer than initially anticipated, after it was shut following a force majeure declaration at the site on May 11. Sources said that the unit has been offline longer than initially expected with no confirmed startup date.
According to Platts data, the Stenungsund cracker has a propylene capacity of 150,000 mt/year.
Commenting on the outages, one source said June 18 the outages "will keep supply balanced."
A propylene trader said: "I'm hearing that the outages in Wilton and Stenungsund might have a positive impact on prices in the market."
The fall in available European propylene capacity in the market could lead to tightness developing in the coastal area, driving discount levels down to single digits, sources said. The European propylene market saw a disconnect between coastal and inland pricing on the week to June 19, with coastal PGP prices stabilising whilst the inland CGP market gained length.
Platts assessed polymer grade propylene spot prices for delivery three-30 days forward at Eur598.50/mt, up Eur3.00/mt on the day and up Eur22.00/mt on the week to June 19.
Unplanned outages at Sabic's Wilton cracker and Borealis' Stenungsund cracker may cause availability shortages in the European propylene coastal market. The fall in available European propylene supply in the market could lead to tightness developing in the coastal area, driving discount levels down to single digits, sources said.
