The first ethylene spot trading in Europe was first held on 15 September at the new Covalent online trading platform, according to ICIS citing managing director Cedric Wheeler (Cedric Villiere).

“This is an important step for us”, – said Wheeler. “We started to develop the current platform in January, and that the first transaction was carried out in September.”

Covalent platform has been designed to help European customers optimize the ethylene trade flows, increase coverage, to save time and protect assets in an increasingly volatile and unpredictable market.

This platform was launched on August 15, and after the test period, the first registered users have submitted their bids and price quotations. Other petrochemical products can be added to the bids later.

The spot transaction was carried out on 1,000 tons of ethylene for delivery in October and costs EUR 875 per tonne, FCA (Free Carrier) in Lille, France.

As reported earlier MRC, ethylene contract price for deliveries in Europe in September, was agreed at the level of EUR925 per tonne, which corresponds to the price in August.

Ethylene is a basic raw material for polyethylene.