Polyethylene: Arab olefin complex completely precipitated

IranPolymer / Baspar A few days ago, an apparently major technical malfunction led to the shutdown of all Saudi Ethylene and Polyethylene plants in Al-Jubail, Saudi Arabia. This affects not only the cracker of the joint venture between LyondellBasell (LYB, Rotterdam / Netherlands) with the Arab partners Tasnee Petrochemicals and Sahara Petrochemical, but also the two downstream polyethylene plants.

It is not known how long the systems have been idle. In the already tense situation at PE, the global supply situation is escalating. In the short term, this led to a surge in PE prices in China. There are also reports from Italy and Turkey that spot prices are significantly higher than two weeks ago.