Ethylene contract prices in Brazil for November were flat over October following stability in the European price, said a source.
The monomer contract price in the Brazilian domestic market for October was heard at around $1,650/mt FOB. The Brazilian CP last moved from September to October, up approximately $80/mt to $1,650/mt FOB.
Brazilian ethylene contract prices have a formula attached to the European price movements with a month lag.
The October European contract price settled at Eur1,115/mt, flat to September.
In production, Braskem halted its Triunfo steam cracker in Rio Grande do Sul state for a programmed maintenance shutdown on October 26 (Wednesday), said a company source.
The company has two steam crackers on the site, and the one under shutdown is the smallest. The smaller cracker can produce 500,800 mt/year of ethylene and 264,000 mt/year of propylene, 40% of the olefins produced in the complex.
Along with the cracker turnaround, Braskem stopped the PE 4 plant for maintenance on November 1 for 10 days and was planning to halt the PE 5 plant on November 14 for 10 days as well.
Braskem's 415,000 mt/year-capacity PE 5 plant produces LLDPE and HDPE. Its 550,000-mt/year PE 4 plant produces HDPE, LLDPE, and green polyethylene.
The company did not expect any impact in the Brazilian domestic market or export contracts because they built resin inventories for the event.
