Sustainable Plastics - January/February 2023 - 30

polymer prices
Prices under pressure from
weak demand and lower costs
Trinseo's
Böhlen site
operations by the end of January.
* Four PP lines operated by
Borealis in Belgium will undergo
planned maintenance
programmes commencing 2
February and due to restart 2
March.
* Trinseo plans to discontinue
styrene production at its
300,000/tonnes/year plant at
the Böhlen site in Saxony, Germany.
The plant is too small and
unprofitable on an international
scale, the company explained.
High gas prices and competition
from rivals' new capacities
have exacerbated the situation.
* A fire at the Versalis site
I
n December, European
standard thermoplastic
prices declined across the
board as a result of lower
feedstock costs and weak demand.
The already weak demand
picture was further exacerbated
by the short production month
and converters reducing stock
levels prior to preparation of the
end-of-year balance sheet.
Polyethylene prices fell in line
with the €25/tonne reductions
in the ethylene reference price.
Polypropylene prices were
down by just less than the €30/
tonne reduction in the propylene
reference price. Base PVC
prices fell for the eighth month
in a row with a reduction of €60/
tonne. Polystyrene prices saw a
triple-digit reduction following
the €132/tonne fall in the styrene
monomer reference price.
PET prices declined by a mere
€20/tonne as producers' efforts
to reduce stock levels appeared
at last to be paying off.
Demand very low
In December, polymer demand
continued at a very low level
across most end-use markets.
While demand has picked up
slightly for the food and pharmaceuticals
packaging sectors,
demand from most other markets
is well below normal levels.
In December, order activity
30
Prices Monitor Jan 2021 - Jan 2022
PET PVC LLDPE HDPELDPEPPPS
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
in Dunkerque, France, on the
weekend of 10 December shut
down the cracker and also the
polyolefin downstream plants.
* The LyondellBasell cracker
in Berre, France, offline since a
fire in August 2022, will not go
back onstream until early 2023.
PET
PVC
January outlook
While few contract prices had
been concluded at time of conducting
the prices research
during the first week of January,
most market observers were expecting
European standard thermoplastic
price developments to
show a mixed picture this month.
Polyethylene and polyprowas
further constrained by the
short production month and by
converters reducing stock levels
prior to preparation of their
year-end balance sheets.
Supply tight
European producers have
trimmed production and
brought forward plant maintenance
programmes to counteract
the low demand. There
is however sufficient material
available to meet the needs
of converters. Supply has also
been supported by a steady inJanuary/February
2023
flow of imported material. The
high European prices and lower
freight rates are tempting producers
to divert more of their
cargoes to Europe.
A selection of the latest production
developments is presented
below:
* Indorama Ventures reported
that a fire stopped operations at
the San Roque, Spain, plant on
New Year's Day. The company
has subsequently announced
that they were planning to complete
safety protocols and plan
to start production of PET and
PTA sequentially, reaching full
pylene prices are likely to fall
sharply after both ethylene and
propylene reference prices settled
down by €95/tonne compared
with the previous month.
PVC prices are also likely to fall
in line with the proportionate
impact of the lower ethylene
price on the PVC cost base.
PS prices, on the other hand,
LLDPE
HDPE
LDPE
PP
PS
are expected to increase sharply
this month following a surge
of €115/tonne in the styrene
monomer reference price. PET
prices are expected to stabilise
as costs fall, imports become
scarcer and producers maintain
strict production controls.
Supply remains tight across
all polymer classes, while demand
should recover gradually
as converters restock.
Sustainable Plastics - January/February 2023

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