LyondellBasell CEO Bob Patel in a conference on Friday said that the US petrochemical industry would experience feedstock volatility that is expected to last through the rest of 2020 due to depressed naphtha prices and boosted ethane prices caused by low oil prices and production shut-ins amid as a result of the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
NOVA Chemicals and Chevron Phillips Chemical had notified their customers about plans to increase prices for all of their polyethylene (PE) prices by 4 cents/pound that would be valid on June 1. This move follows a similar step by fellow US producers Formosa Plastics, Dow Chemical, and Equistar Chemicals which announced a 4 cents/pound increment for their June PE pricing.
Indorama Ventures, the world's largest producer of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), reported increasing sales in various countries in Q1 2020 despite coronavirus-related lockdowns. Falling oil prices also helped to boost earnings from its global purified isophthalic acid (PIA) and US feedstock paraxylene businesses. However, the company plans to tighten stocks and spending due to pandemic uncertainty.
