Plastics News Europe - July/August 2019 - 30

polymer prices

petrochemical feedstock contract prices Aug 2018-July 2019 (€/tonne)
Aug

sept

oct

Nov

Dec

Jan

Feb

mar

Apr

may

June

change
July may/July

Ethylene

1135

1145

1135

1025

985

1015

1045

1075

1000

-75

Propylene

1040

1135

1070

1060

960

925

950

970

990

910

-80

styrene

1315

1135

1310

1140

990

975

995

1042

994

-191

Benzene

742

733

777

693

542

485

497

558

640

602

638

-42

Paraxylene

950

1170

1138

1060

960

925

960

995

*PX contract price not yet settled at time of writing

1055 1152.5 1185
680

907.5 812.5 *812.5

-95

Source: Plastics News Europe

l/
l
D
p
e

In June, L/LDPE prices remained unchanged from the previous
month following a rollover in the ethylene contract price. For
July, the ethylene reference price was as expected fixed at a
much lower level, down €75/tonne compared with June. Naphtha prices had fallen sharply and several cracker plants came
back on stream after maintenance downtime. L/LDPE producers
managed to restrict price cuts to the €75/tonne reduction in the
cost of feedstock.

L/LDPE demand was low throughout June and July. In June,
buyers held back from making purchasing as they expected a
sharp price reductions in July. Buying activity was also sluggish in
July given the subdued economic activity and the impending
holiday season.
The European L/LDPE market is well supplied. In the case of
LLDPE, significant volume of competitively-priced imported material were arriving from the US.

H
D
p
e

Following a rollover in the June ethylene reference price, HDPE
suppliers were unable to prevent prices from falling due to imported material at attractive prices. Consequently, HDPE notations
fell between €5-10/tonne in June. For July, most HDPE product
prices fell in line with the €75/tonne reduction in the ethylene
reference price. Blown film prices fell by slightly less than the cost
reduction.
HDPE demand was low throughout June and July. In June, buy-

ers held back from making purchasing as they expected a sharp
price reductions in July. Buying activity was also sluggish in July
given the subdued economic activity, good stock levels and the
impending holiday season.
The European HDPE market is well supplied from both local
producers and from imported material. Blow moulding and injection moulding products were particularly under pressure from
low-priced imports.

p
p

In June, PP homopolymer film and homopolymer injection contract prices settled on a rollover after the monthly propylene reference price remained unchanged from May. Copolymer injection
prices slipped by around €10/tonne mainly as a result of an inflow
of competitively-priced imported material.
By mid-July, polypropylene prices had crashed by just less than the
€80/tonne reduction in the propylene reference price. However, further price rebates were expected during the remainder of the month.

PP output was restricted by scheduled cracker maintenance
turnarounds which limited monomer availability and an unplanned outage at a polymer plant.
PP demand was below expectations in June and July. Buyers
restrained their purchasing activity in anticipation of further price
rebates further down the line while some plants started to close
for the holiday season. Automotive sector demand in particular
continued to disappoint.

p
s

In June, the styrene reference price plummeted €143/tonne as a
result of mounting supply and weak demand. Polystyrene prices
fell in line with the drop in feedstock costs.
In July, the styrene reference price fell again, but this time by
only €48/tonne. European suppliers approached the market
with planned decreases of €30/tonne in an effort to recover
their margin. By mid-July, general-purpose polystyrene contract
prices were trading around €45/tonne lower compared with the

June closing level while high-impact grade prices were €55/
tonne lower following a reduction in the cost of butadiene.
Converters were reluctant to buy given the expectation of
further price cuts. A weakening economy and the impending
holiday season also held back sales.
The European PS market is in surplus and producers were
expected to begin reducing production rates to restore better
balance.

p
V
c

In June, PVC compound prices were mostly closed on a rollover
basis following unchanged ethylene contract prices. Plasticised
PVC compounds saw a slight reduction due to lower plasticiser
costs.
The €75/tonne reduction in the July ethylene contract price
implied a €37.5/tonne reduction in the PVC cost base. PVC producers hoped for a margin improvement by holding price rebates
to below the cost reduction. One major player even announced a

planned rollover with another targeting a reduction of just €1520/tonne. However, by mid-July PVC compound prices were
down in line with the ethylene cost reduction.
Supply was back to normal following an end to the maintenance season and few reported plant outages.
PVC demand was on the weak side across most sectors including automotive and construction. The impending summer holidays in Southern Europe also stemmed demand.

p
e
T

In June, European paraxylene (PX) fell sharply (-€95/tonne) after
falling €87.5/tonne in May. Lower oil prices and a soft Asian PX
market pushed the contract lower amid weak demand. The
June monoethylene glycol (MEG) contract settled €60/tonne
lower compared with May. The PET cost base therefore fell €85/
tonne in June. European PET prices subsequently dropped by
€65-70/tonne.
PET demand remained weak throughout June. As processors

had plentiful stocks of finished bottles in their warehouses demand was met mostly from inventories when the weather finally heated up later in the month. In July, PET demand increased
sharply with the onset of hotter summer weather.
The European PET market remained over-supplied during
early summer and producers' stock levels are on the high side.
There was also a growing tide of competitively-priced Asian offers available to European buyers.

July/august 2019

Plastics News Europe - July/August 2019

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