Propylene prices in Northeast Asia continue to decline due to weak demand from the key Chinese market amid a small drop in domestic supplies, ICIS reports citing market participants.

On September 7, spot prices fell to USD1,110 per tonne, CFR NE (Northeast Asia), while on August 17 they were USD1,127.5 per tonne, CFR NE Asia.

Spot prices in the market are declining for three weeks against the backdrop of an increase in supply of material due to the resumption of production of propylene at the Jiangsu Sailboat and Oriental Energy plants.

Demand in China for imported propylene may further decline due to a planned shutdown of Shanghai DCCO’s DCC production facilities with a total capacity of 520,000 tons per year.

The market in China will also be closed October 1-7 for the celebration of Independence Day.

Propylene is the main component for the production of polypropylene (PP).

According to the ScanPlast of the MRC Company, the total volume of PP production in Russia decreased by 1% in January-July of the current year in comparison with the same indicator of 2017 and amounted to about 829 thousand tons. At the same time, only three manufacturers out of seven showed a reduction in the output of the material.