Copyright 2014 Reed Business Information Limited. ICIS Pricing is a member of the Reed Elsevier plc group.

8th January 2014

Polyols (Europe)
Editor Stefan Naidu, stefan.naidu@icis.com; Editorial Europe, editorial.europe@icis.com

FLEXIBLE POLYOLS - CONTRACT PRICES

SLABSTOCK CONVENTIONAL
Click for Price History Price Range One year ago US CTS/LB
FD NWE POLYETHER (DEC) n/c 1760-1830 n/c 1770-1890 108.60-112.92
EUR/TONNE

BASE RIGID POLYOLS - CONTRACT PRICES

SUCROSE
Click for Price History Price Range One year ago US CTS/LB
FD NWE POLYETHER (DEC) n/c 1980-2050 n/c 2010-2080 122.17-126.49

le
EUR/TONNE

NOTE: for full details on the criteria ICIS pricing uses in making these price assessments visit www.icispricing.com and
click on methodology.

The deltas in the Polyols (Europe) weekly report dated 8
January 2014 reflect changes from 18 December as 25
mp
December-1 January was a non-publishing week. For
more information, please check the publishing schedule at
www.icispricing.com.
Stable sentiment in January due to competition
The price of European flexible polyols looks set to remain
static in January due to inactivity in the market as there is
fierce competition for market share in the quiet holiday period.
Most producers are expecting prices to roll over citing
competitive reasons but the consensus is that prices would
have to rise in February to improve production margins. The
consensus among buyers is that prices will likely roll over in
January but they also expect prices to rise next month if
availability is low at that time.
One producer, however, said it had increased its polyols prices
Sa
Production news
Production at Dows flexible polyols plant in Terneuzen, the
Netherlands, has been hindered by technical difficulties and
severely reduced the companys product availability, market
sources said on Wednesday.
As a result, Dow has extremely low availability for January
business and this could continue into February, a market
source added.
It is unclear if this will have an effect on prices as early
indications suggest a rollover in January from December..
The company was unable to confirm this at the time of writing.
Upstream
In the week ending 3 Jan, supply in the European propylene
market was viewed as tight following some strike-related
stoppages and an unplanned cracker outage in France,

by 40/tonne FD in January but declined to provide any
absolute numbers. This could not be widely confirmed in the
market.
Prices remain representative of December business pending
further market feedback.
coupled with a fresh focus on lighter feedstock cracking by
some producers. Demand was better than expected as players
seek alternative supplies to cover the hiccups in supply amid a
general restocking of inventories. The January contract price
settled at 1,130/tonne FD NWE, up by 20/tonne.
Crude oil futures gained amid continued supply disruptions
from Libya and from South Sudan. The Iraqi governments loss
of control over the city of Fallujah added to the bullish tone.
Meanwhile, oil flows from Iraq to Turkey along the Kirkuk-
Ceyhan pipeline were halted for around 48 hours, after it was
sabotaged.
Analysts predictions for this weeks US stock figures were that
they would show a draw on crude stocks of about 900,000 bbl,
a build on distillate of around 1.90m bbl and a build on
gasoline of around 2.30m bbl.

Crude oil 8 Jan* 31 Dec 18 Dec 11 Dec

ICE Brent 107.63 110.80 109.63 109.70

WTI 93.72 98.42 97.80 97.44

Copyright violation is a serious offence. Any distribution or forwarding of information which is not expressly permitted by your subscription agreement is
a copyright violation. ICIS pricing will be using software to monitor unauthorised electronic redistribution of reports. Copyright 2014 Reed Business
Information Limited. ICIS pricing is a member of the Reed Elsevier plc group.
 Polyols (Europe)

Page 2 of 2

*Afternoon trading

Front month - $/bbl

Pricing information from ICIS is also available via the Dashboard service.
The ICIS Dashboard is a platform that enables you to see pricing, news and analysis in a single screen.
Visit http://www.icis.com/moreondashboard to find out more.

Price history | Related reports | Full report list | Price Alert | Plant performance data
Currency conversion (real time) | Glossary | Methodology | Latest product news |

le
Find a supplier

ICIS pricing accepts no liability for commercial decisions based on the content of this report.

For information about multiple
subscriptions and licences to this
information product, or for permission to
photocopy or redistribute individual reports,
please call the relevant office:
London:+44 20 8652 3335,
sales.uk@icis.com
mp
Copyright violation is a serious offence.
Any distribution or forwarding of information
which is not expressly permitted by your
subscription agreement is a copyright
violation. ICIS pricing will be using software
to monitor unauthorised electronic
redistribution of reports. Copyright 2014
Customer Support Centre
+44 20 8652 3335 or toll free from
US/Canada:+1 888 525 3255
ICIS pricing:www.icispricing.com
ICIS News:www.icis.com/news
ICIS website:www.icis.com

Houston:+1 713 525 2600, Reed Business Information Limited. ICIS

sales.us@icis.com pricing is a member of the Reed Elsevier
Singapore:+65 6789 8828, plc group.
sales.ap@icis.com
Sa

Copyright violation is a serious offence. Any distribution or forwarding of information which is not expressly permitted by your subscription agreement is
a copyright violation. ICIS pricing will be using software to monitor unauthorised electronic redistribution of reports. Copyright 2014 Reed Business
Information Limited. ICIS pricing is a member of the Reed Elsevier plc group.