Global ethylene demand to grow 4pc: LyondellBasell

OREANDA-NEWS. June 09, 2016. Global ethylene demand is on pace to grow 4pc annually, LyondellBasell vice president of investor relations Doug Pike said.

Worldwide ethylene crackers are operating at 90-93pc utilization rates. A boom in new capacity will only slightly ease these rates, he added, due to robust demand.

"The global industry has been operating in sort of a balanced or transition range," Pike told analysts at Deutsche Bank's Global Industrials and Materials Summit today. Strong margins across the ethylene chain indicate there is still some tightness in the market, he said.

In the US and Asia, derivative polyethylene pricing continues to react quickly to seasonal outages, with recent 9-10?/lb increases in both regions, according to Lyondell.

Europe, which has seen mild demand growth, is now beginning to export ethylene as well, he said.