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Tight low-density polyethylene availability pushes up prices in Latin America

Houston — The low-density polyethylene import availability in Latin America remains tight, sources said Wednesday.

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The tightness is not just global, but also regional, as Dow's Bahia Blanca LDPE plant in Argentina has been shut since November 3, after an explosion shut the 90,000 mt/year capacity line.

The plant is expected to resume operations in the second half of 2016, a company source said previously.

Platts was not immediately able to confirm this with Dow on Wednesday.

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"I have no idea when the plant will resume operations. But LDPE is the tightest resin in the Mercosur right now," a US-based trader that sells material to South America said.

In the meantime, Dow has been transferring LDPE produced in the US and Canada to countries in the South American Mercosur region in an attempt to meet client demand in Argentina, multiple sources said.

Sources within Mercosur countries said Brazil is also exporting LDPE to Argentina, which makes the availability tighter in the region.

On Wednesday, the Brazilian import assessment rose $40/mt and Peru was $5/mt higher week on week, both assessed at $1,245-$1,255/mt CFR basis amid thin buying activity and continued talk of tight US-origin material.

"Middle East is the place that we are hearing more offers, however, it is not a large volume anyways," a Brazil-based trader said.

--Ingrid Furtado ingrid.furtado@platts.com
--Edited by Annie Siebert, ann.siebert@platts.com