Lyondell: strong demand expected in Q2

OREANDA-NEWS. April 27, 2015. LyondellBasell expects strong ethylene and polymer demand in the second quarter, particularly in Europe and Asia, as supply in those markets remains tight due to a number of small regional outages, chief executive Bob Patel told analysts today.

"Market conditions are very strong," Patel said on the company's first quarter earnings call. "I am very bullish about demand for Q2."

European operations will also continue to benefit from the weaker euro, which has improved competitiveness for downstream materials and resulted in fewer imports, Patel said.

In the US, Lyondell is seeing greater sales volumes from capacity added last year, including a new 800mn lb/yr expansion of its La Porte, Texas. Lyondell produced 2.36bn lb of ethylene in the Americas during the first quarter, up 19pc from year-ago levels. Propylene production rose 32pc to 805mn lb in the first quarter.

Patel said the current length in the US propylene market, which saw prices hit six-year lows earlier this month, will soon rebalance.

"When propylene values fall, you crack less propane and crack more ethane," he said. "For us, we have the flexibility to run the metathesis unit or not to run it."

Also Friday, the company said it will delay its planned fourth quarter FCC unit turnaround to the first quarter of 2016.