Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2021 - 33

polymer prices
European petrochemical feedstock contract prices; February to May 2021 (€/tonne)
Feb 21 March 21 April 21 May 21 Change, Feb/May
€/tonne
Ethylene
Propylene
Styrene
Benzene
Paraxylene
L/LDPE
L/LDPE prices continued on a sharp upward
trajectory in April with hikes only slightly less
than the €250/tonne increases seen in the
previous month. Material shortages were
exacerbated by further force majeure announcements
and plant maintenance shutdowns.
Imports from the US and the Middle
East were virtually non-existent. Strong end
market demand was driven by the food &
beverages and pharmaceuticals sectors.
The month of May began with L/LDPE
producers calling for price increase of
€250/tonne despite only a €5/tonne rise in
the ethylene contract price. While supply
remained short, there were signs that more
material was becoming available compared
to previous months. Supply was mostly
available to meet contractual obligations
and some new projects while demand remained
at a high level. As a result, LDPE
prices increased by €125/tonne with LLDPE
prices rising by €65/tonne.
HDPE
PS
HDPE producers were able to push through
further massive price increases without
much opposition amid continued supply
shortages. Blown film grades traded
around €240/tonne higher comparted to
March with blow moulding and injection
moulding product rising around €220/
tonne. Local supply was further restrained
by force majeures and the start of the plant
maintenance season while imports were
lacking. Demand from the automotive and
construction markets was particularly high.
HDPE producers called for price increases
of €250/tonne at the start of May, but a
slight improvement in the supply situation
put a brake on planned price hikes. Blown
film prices increased by €70/tonne with
blow moulding prices rising by €60/tonne
and injection moulding grades up by €40/
tonne. Construction sector demand for
blown film remained high, but automotive
sector demand for blow moulding product
eased back a little.
PS prices soared once again in April following
a €312/tonne settlement to the styrene
monomer reference price. Sellers refrained
from calling for further margin-extending
hikes in view of the high price levels and
settled for gains of around €300/tonne
compared to March closing levels. Supply
continued tight in April and had to be allocated.
Demand was restrained as many
converters held back from buying in view of
such high prices.
Polystyrene producers announced
planned price increases of between €90105/tonne
from 1st May, which was slightly
above the €87/tonne increase in the styrene
monomer cost settlement. However,
PS price increases for May were generally
settled around the styrene monomer cost
rise. The very tight supply situation eased
a little last month. Converters limited their
buying to the bare minimum in anticipation
of falling prices in June.
PET
PET prices continued to increase sharply in
April despite a virtually unchanged cost base
with bottle-grade contract prices rising by
around €100/tonne. Several unplanned plant
outages at PTA plants in Belgium and Poland
curtailed feedstock availability while imports
remained at very low levels.
COVID-19 lockdown measures and the
cool weather reduced demand more than
had been expected. In most cases, converters
were able to avoid stoppages due to
material shortages.
The steep rise in PET prices came to a
halt in May with contract settlements declining
on average by €15-20/tonne due to
lower input prices, better availability and
low demand. The supply position improved
with the PTA bottlenecks gradually easing.
At the same time, imports were being
attracted by the high price level in Europe.
Meanwhile, demand continued to disappoint
due to the cold spring weather.
May/June 2021
33
970
845
1067
742
*787
Source: Sustainable Plastics
PP
PP producers pushed through further
enormous price hikes of around €270/
tonne in April as supply shortages worsened.
European PP output declined as a
result of planned and unplanned plant
outages as well as a lack of imported material
from the US. Demand was strong
across most end markets as converters
sought to buy whatever scarce supplies
they could find.
PP producers tabled planned triple-digit
price hikes for the month of May despite
only a €10/tonne rise in the propylene contract
price. However, strong buyer resistance
persuaded sellers to backtrack and to
accept much smaller price increases than
initially planned.
Many buyers decided to stop buying in
May amid widespread expectations of seeing
a reversal in June. As a result, homopolymer
injection prices increased by €70/tonne
with homopolymer film and copolymer injection
prices each rising by €50/tonne.
PVC
Once again PVC prices increased well
in advance of the pro-rata €20/tonne increase
in ethylene costs in April. PVC producers
had no trouble in raising notations
on average by €130-140/tonne.
PVC prices continued their advance
in May but the rate of increase slowed
down. Base PVC prices increased by
€85/tonne, which again bore no relation
to the tiny pro-rata €2.5/tonne ethylene
cost rise. PVC compounds saw slightly
higher price rises due to increases in additive
costs.
Material remained very tight over the
two months of April and May with several
planned and unplanned plant outages
taking place and a distinct lack of
imports. Shin Etsu and Vynova joined
Inovyn and Kem One in declaring force
majeures as of early May. At the same
time, demand was strong with particularly
high order intake from the construction
sector.
1005
970
1551
765
765
1045
1015
1863
995
757.5
1050
1025
1950
1364
770
45
55
399
599
5
Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sustainable Plastics - May/June 2021
