UPDATE: Citigroup Downgrades Axiall Corp. to Neutral, Lowers PT as Upside Scenario is Less Likely Near-Term

In a report published Wednesday, Citigroup analyst P.J. Juvekar downgraded the rating on

Axiall Corp. AXLL from Buy to Neutral, and lowered the price target from $46.00 to $43.00. In the report, Citigroup noted, “We are moving to the sidelines on AXLL for 3 reasons based on recent comments from Olin, LYB & DOW: 1) Olin expects its chlor-alkali earnings in 4Q to be down, both Y/Y and Q/Q. 2) AXLL buys 100% of its ethylene and LYB expects ethylene to tighten in 1H14 due to turnarounds, which CMAI expects will amount to ~10% of capacity in 2Q14. LYB believes producers are likely to build ethylene inventory ahead of these outages, keeping the market tight. Plus, the Williams cracker outage in Geismar, LA and the Evangeline ethylene pipeline disruption have reduced ethylene availability in Louisiana, where AXLL buys much of its ethylene. 3) Asia PVC prices are down $35/mt in the past month, which will likely prevent US prices from rising in the near term amid seasonally soft demand.” Axiall Corp. closed on Tuesday at $40.29.

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UPDATE: Citigroup Downgrades Axiall Corp. to Neutral, Lowers PT as Upside Scenario is Less Likely Near-Term