Netherlands-headquartered LyondellBasell is seeking additional polypropylene cargoes from its South Korean joint venture Polymirae due to a drop in its Middle East supply, a Polymirae source said late Wednesday.
"They are asking for more allocation from the South Korean production due to a shortage of Middle Eastern material," the source said, without elaborating on specific quantities requested by LyondellBasell or other details such as where the cargoes would go.
Polymirae is a joint venture between LyondellBasell and South Korea'a Daelim. It has four PP lines with a total production capacity of 700,000 mt/year at Yeosu.
A Daelim source was unaware of the request for additional cargoes, while a LyondellBasell source did not want to comment.
Al-Waha Petrochemicals, LyondellBasell's joint venture with Sahara Petrochemicals in Saudi Arabia, was forced to shut its 450,000 mt/year PP plant from July 16 to August 2. The shutdown was triggered by a technical problem at its Recycle Effluent Compressor, Platts reported previously.
In addition, ports in Saudi Arabia were experiencing seasonal port congestion, which typically occurs during Ramadan, Platts reported Monday.
