26 August 2010 08:09 [Source: ICIS news]
SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Ethylene spot prices climbed to a three-month high of $1,000/tonne (┬790/tonne) in southeast Asia amid a scramble for spot material following cracker outages this week, market sources said on Thursday.
A deal for a 3,000-tonne cargo loading first half September was reported at $1,000/tonne FOB (free on board) southeast (SE) Asia mid-week while bids to purchase more September shipments were mentioned in the mid to high $900s/tonne FOB SE Asia.
⌠Because of the cracker troubles, supply is getting shorter, said an olefins trader based in Japan.
Market sources said Shell had shut its 800,000 tonne/year mixed feed cracker in Singapore early this week due to unspecified issues, and the producer could be in the market to buy some ethylene spot cargoes to cover contractual obligations.
It was not immediately clear if the plant had restarted but operations had not been stable this month, they added.
A company spokesman had earlier declined to comment on operational matters.
Separately, Japan's Mitsui Chemicals shut its 617,000 tonne/year naphtha cracker in Ichihara, Chiba prefecture, on Thursday due to mechanical issues.
It was not clear if the Japanese producer would need to buy ethylene from the spot market as the duration of the unplanned outage had yet to be confirmed, market sources said.
The cracker outages are also likely to exacerbate the already tight supply situation in northeast (NE) Asia.
Selling ideas remained above $1,000/tonne CFR (cost and freight) NE Asia, with discussions underway in the region, sources added.
($1 = ┬0.79)