Dow Chemical, an American petrochemical giant, postponed the introduction of a previously announced increase in polyethylene (PE) prices for May deliveries to the US, which was 3 cents per pound or USD66 per ton, ICIC reported citing a May 18 letter.

This is the third time that the Dow has postponed the price increase. In the letter, the company does not indicate the reasons for this decision.

Buyers and other PE market participants said that there is not enough reason for this increase, as global PE contract prices are going down, and US export prices fell last month.

In addition, another reason why this price increase is unlikely to have occurred was earlier this month, when industry data showed that PE stocks jumped to an almost two-year high in April.

“There are no real reasons to increase prices,” said one of the PE market participants.

Initially, however, Dow planned to increase PE prices in March by the above amount, and then each subsequent month postponed the timing of the introduction of the increase in quotations.

Now the market has an opinion that the contract prices in May will remain at the level of the previous month, and in June will decrease, if there is no sign of a reduction in high stocks of the material.

The largest producers of PE in the US are Chevron Phillips Chemical, Dow Chemical, ExxonMobil, Formosa Plastics, LyondellBasell, NOVA Chemicals, Total and Westlake.

As reported by the Market Report company, Dow Chemical plans in the second quarter of 2017 to commission the expanded capacity for the production of polyethylene (PE) in Freeport (Texas, USA).

According to the ICIS-MRC Price Review, a gradual decline in prices continues on the Russian PE market, as a result of the past week, there has been a correction in the prices of high-pressure polyethylene (LDPE) and low-density polyethylene (HDPE). At the same time, the film HDPE became the most expensive. The supply of polyethylene in the market in May increased significantly, while the demand for polymer is still low.

Dow Chemical is an American diversified chemical company headquartered in Midland, Michigan. It is a large producer of polymer products, including polystyrene, polyurethane, polyethylene, polypropylene and synthetic rubbers. The company produces more than five thousand products at 188 production facilities in 37 countries.