A deadly styrene gas leak at a plant owned by LG Polymers India Private Limited (LGPI), a unit of South Korean petrochemical giant LG Chem, has been contained but could slow down styrene import demand from India, market sources told SSESSMENTS.COM. The disaster occurred on Thursday when the plant in the southern city of Visakhapatnam was in the process to reopen after the government eased some lockdown restrictions.
Market participants were hoping the easing could bring back demand from India, Asia’s second-largest importer of styrene. However, the incident, which caused 12 fatalities and injured more than 800 people is likely to add market uncertainty and delay demand recovery.
Market sources informed SSESSMENTS.COM that LGPI polystyrene (PS) and expandable polystyrene (EPS) at a nameplate capacity of 150,000 tons/year. The company imports on average, about 10,000 tons/month of styrene from South Korea and the US. Market participants also expected that buyers would seek to bargain after this incident and hence, pushing prices downward.
Amid muted trading, Styrene prices rose by $2 from last Thursday to $588/ton CFR India on Friday morning, widening the spread to CFR China to minus $35/ton from minus $30/ton.
