US spot ethylene spiked 2-cents/lb in morning trade to reach 18 cents/lb on Friday, following talks of a production upset at ExxonMobil's Beaumont, Texas, ethylene plant, sources said.
A company spokesman confirmed the upset and added that it was from a power issue outside of the Beaumont complex. The spokesman did not provide details on the current status of the complex or expectations of its potential restart.
One market source said that the power outage and the subsequent hard shutdown will result in at least week-long ethylene outage.
The Beaumont complex comprises two equal-sized steam cracking units with total combined ethylene capacity of 820,000 mt/year.
In markets, January traded twice at 18 cents/lb MtB Wms, while February traded three times at 18.75 cents/lb MtB Wms. Two second-quarter deals were concluded at 20.25 cents/lb MtB Wms, 1.25 cents/lb above the latest Wednesday trade level of 19 cents/lb MtB Wms.
Platts assessed US spot ethylene at 15.75-16.25 cents/lb FD USG for prompt deliveries on Thursday, while February was assessed at 16.5-17 cents/lb FD USG.
