Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 38

polymer prices

European petrochemical feedstock contract prices; April - June 2020 (€/tonne)
Ethylene
Propylene
Styrene
Benzene
Paraxylene

Apr

May

June

Change Apr/June (€/tonne)

720

620

680

-40

650

570

630

-20

626

613

677

51

171

226

293

122

590

590

*590

0

Note: April PX contract price not settled at time of writing Source: Sustainable Plastics

L/LDPE

PP

PVC

In May, L/LDPE producers restricted
price reductions to around half of the €100/
tonne fall in the ethylene contract price.
LDPE prices fell by €45/tonne while LLDPE
prices were just €40/tonne lower due to a
more limited supply of imported material.
Producers' efforts to control production
had an impact, while a number of unscheduled plant outages also restrained supply.
Demand varied widely between end use
sectors; film products for protective packaging were slightly below normal, while
food and hygiene packaging film demand
was mostly stable.
L/LDPE prices took an upward turn in
June following an increase of €60/tonne for
the ethylene contract price. Producers did
not however manage to factor in the full
cost rise mainly as a result of weak demand.
Pre-buying in May meant that converters'
stock levels were more than adequate to
meet demand.

In May, PP producers reluctantly passed
on most of the €80/tonne reduction in the
propylene contract price to buyers as a
result of excess supply. Homopolymer injection grade prices fell in line with the C3
cost reduction, while homopolymer film
and copolymer injection grades registered price rebates of around €65/tonne.
Demand varied with good order intake
from the packaging sector, but automotive demand continued weak, being still
under the impact of the Covid-19 crisis.
Supply was plentiful, despite production
cuts and maintenance turnarounds restraining output.
By mid-June, PP buyers resisted paying
the full monomer hike of €60/tonne with
settlements ranging from €40-50/tonne.
Material availability improved as a result
of fewer plant maintenance interruptions.
Demand was subdued with converters
prepared to sit on abundant stock levels
which they had built up when prices were
low in May.

In May, PVC sellers reluctantly passed
on in full the proportionate impact of the
€100/tonne reduction in the ethylene contract price. PVC base material was down
€50/tonne with PVC compound prices
down less by €40-45/tonne as some additive costs fell by less than ethylene.

HDPE
In May, certain HDPE products faced
stronger downward pressure compared
to L/LDPE due to comfortable supplies
and weaker demand from automotive and
construction sectors. Injection moulding
grades saw price reductions of around €65/
tonne while blown film and injection moulding product prices fell by €50/tonne over
the previous month.
Availability of imported material was
plentiful, and made up for the reduced output from local producers. Demand started
to return to more normal levels for the season, but varied widely between sectors.
In June, HDPE prices ended their slide
and started to turn upward again. While
some producers called for triple-digit price
hikes, prices increased by less than the €60/
tonne rise in ethylene costs. Blow moulding
and injection moulding products gained
slightly more than blown film grades. Demand was below normal as converters had
rebuilt stocks in May.

38

May/June 2020

PS
The styrene monomer (SM) reference
price fell by just €13/tonne in May following
a crash of €440/tonne during the previous
two months. There were major PS price
reductions in April and discounts varied
widely. As such, many price corrections
took place in May with settlements above
the change in monomer prices, especially
at the top of the price range.
PS supply remained on the high side, despite production cutbacks. Packaging materials continued to perform well, but most other
sectors were still adversely affected by the
coronavirus crisis.
PS prices took an upturn in June after three
months of steep decline. PS producers however were unable to raise prices in line with the
€64/tonne increase in SM costs, and settled
for gains of €55/tonne. Packaging demand remained lively, but overall demand disappointed with converters' stock levels adequate. .

The material surpluses in April almost
disappeared as a result of production
cutbacks. Demand gradually picked up in
countries where the coronavirus-related
restrictions were eased, but was still below the normal level.
June saw PVC prices rising again with
producers passing on the proportionate
impact (€30/tonne) on their cost base
of the €60/tonne rise in ethylene costs.
Some producers however, called for a
€40/tonne price increase. PVC production levels continued to be kept under
control. Demand was more subdued as a
result of converters pre-buying material
at low prices in May.

PET
In May, PET prices fell to their lowest
levels for over a decade and the price
range was wider than normal. May PET
deals were closed with price reductions of
€30/tonne, which was slightly more than
the reduction in feedstock costs. Monoethylene glycol costs fell €67/tonne with
paraxylene costs unchanged. Hence, the
cost base was down €22/tonne.
Demand was below expectations for May,
sales to the food and hygiene sectors were
good, but beverage sector sales were disappointing. Pre-buying was evident as many
converters opted to secure extra stocks to
capitalise on multi-year low prices.
European PET prices bottomed out in June
with support from rising oil and feedstock
prices. PET continues to be well supplied
from local producers and from Far Eastern
imports. Demand will depend crucially on
future development of the pandemic and the
summer weather.



Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020

Contents
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - Cover1
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - Cover2
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - Contents
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 4
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 5
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 6
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 7
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 8
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 9
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 10
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 11
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 12
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 13
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 14
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Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 16
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Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 19
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 20
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 21
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Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 37
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 38
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 39
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - 40
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - Cover3
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2020 - Cover4
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