Nomura Instinet analyst Aleksey Yefremov downgraded Olin (OLN) to Neutral and lowered his price target for the shares to $35 from $40. The combination of disruptions to caustic soda demand in the alumina market, and a more balanced market in Europe and Asia, will cause prices in the export market to "stall" in coming months, likely slowing the pace of domestic caustic soda price increases, Yefremov tells investors in a research note. He believes alumina-related caustic soda export demand reduction presents downside risks to producers Olin and Westlake Chemical (WLK). Yefremov keeps a Buy rating on Westlake with a $125 price target.

As previously reported, Deutsche Bank analyst David Begleiter upgraded Westlake to Buy from Hold with a price target of $174, up from $138. Shares have outperformed over the last 12 months, but the analyst argues its "not too late" as this outperformance has occurred despite weak fundamentals in each of Westlake's its commodity chains. Investors have focused on and rewarded Westlake for its building products business, a leading North American supplier in the premium roofing, sliding, trim and shutter, decorative stone and windows business. While stating that "sum of the parts stories rarely, if ever, work," the firm believes Westlake "could be on one of the rare sum of the parts stories does work."