Sustainable Plastics - January/February 2022 - 37

polymer prices
European petrochemical feedstock contract prices; November - December 2021 (€/tonne)
Sept 21
Oct 21
Ethylene
Propylene
Styrene
Benzene
Paraxylene
L/LDPE
In December, European L/LDPE producers
achieved price increases of €20/tonne in a
tight market, despite a small reduction in
feedstock costs. The ethylene contract price
settled down by €10/tonne due to softening
oil and naphtha costs.
Material availability remained on the
low side, but converters were generally
able to obtain the volumes they required.
Supply was further tightened by a force
majeure being called at a cracker and
polyethylene plant in the Netherlands in
mid-December.
Demand was dampened by the reimposition
of coronavirus restrictions in many
European countries, the shortness of the
production month and converters aiming to
minimise stock levels for balance sheet reasons
as year-end approached.
In January, while cost pressure has abated
with a rollover for ethylene costs, producers
are expected to push for further price increases
to cover higher energy costs.
HDPE
At the beginning of December, HDPE producers
announced planned price increases
of €30/tonne to cover higher energy costs
following a small reduction of €10/tonne in
the ethylene contract price. In view of good
demand, blown film and injection moulding
grades registered gains of €25/tonne
and €30/tonne, respectively. Blow moulding
prices saw increases of €20/tonne as a
result of weaker sales.
Overall, HDPE demand suffered from converters
buying only the bare minimum and
coronavirus restrictions being reintroduced.
Blow moulding was also affected by continued
poor performance of the automotive
sector. Supply, however, was generally sufficient
to meet converters' demand.
In January, HDPE prices are expected to
rise despite the rollover for ethylene costs.
Producers are likely to call for higher prices
to cover the rising cost of energy with
the possible inclusion in contracts of an
energy surcharge.
1,165.0
1,168.0
1,286.0
836.0
840.0
1,190.0
1,193.0
1,309.0
780.0
880.0
PP
At the beginning of December, PP producers
attempted to raise prices to cover the higher
costs of energy, although feedstock costs remained
stable. Buyers successfully pushed
back calls for higher prices and homopolymer
and copolymer injection prices were
largely rolled over. Homopolymer film grades
saw price gains of €10-15/tonne.
Homopolymer film demand held up better
than expected last month, yet demand
for homopolymer and copolymer injection
material was lower. Weakness in the automotive
sector, the reimposition of restrictive
measures to control the omicron variant and
converters minimising stock levels in the
run-up to year-end all contributed to restrain
PP sales.
Supply returned to more normal levels in
December with only a few minor PP plant
outages reported.
In January, PP producers will again attempt
to factor higher energy costs into price
negotiations.
PS
The December styrene monomer (SM)
reference price settled up €23/tonne as a
result of higher benzene costs and production
outages at several European facilities.
Polystyrene producers were largely unable
to pass through the full cost increase to
converters as both GPPS and HIPS prices
increased by €20/tonne, just less than the
SM cost rise.
Styrene monomer and polystyrene remained
in short supply in December. Imports
from the U.S. were scarce and there
were several temporary plant shutdowns
and force majeures called at cracker and
polymer production plants during the month.
PS sales weakened last month as converters
ordered just sufficient material to meet their
immediate production needs and sought to
minimise stock levels as year-end approached.
Polystyrene prices are expected to surge
in January following the triple-digit increase
of €119/tonne in the styrene monomer reference
price.
The European PET market was becalmed in
December with very low demand and tight
supply. PET producers attempted to pass on
higher feedstock and energy costs to converters,
but bottle-grade prices increased by
only €40-50/tonne in very thin trading. The
November paraxylene contract, however, increased
by just €10/tonne.
Material availability remains very low with
European producers running plants at reduced
operating rates in view of the weak
demand. Imports from the Far East, however,
are expected to increase substantially during
the first quarter.
The reimposition of restrictions to control
the coronavirus curtailed even further
an already depressed low-season beverage
bottle demand. Converters also sat back in
anticipation of high volumes of Asian material
arriving late January.
PET prices may be approaching a peak
in the current cycle with continued low
seasonal demand and higher expected import
volumes.
January/February 2022
37
Nov 21
1,282.5
1,288.0
1,541.0
838.0
*880.0
Dec 21
1,272.5
1,288
1,564
860
870
Source: Sustainable Plastics. Note: *paraxylene contract price for December not settled at time of writing
PVC
In December, PVC producers settled for a
price rollover for base material following a
€10/tonne reduction in ethylene costs. Rigid
and flexible PVC compounds, however, registered
price increases of €30-40/tonne as a
result of rising additive costs.
PVC base material and compounds still
faced limited supply in December due to
continued plant outages and low availability
of imports.
Building and construction industry demand
for PVC remained unusually high toward
the end of the year, while sales to the
automotive sector weakened further.
PVC prices show no sign of softening for
the foreseeable future due to tightening supply
and a further increase in additive costs.
A series of plant maintenance programmes
are likely to curtail production during the first
quarter of 2022. Planned price increases for
plasticisers, titanium dioxide and other additives
will push up PVC compound prices.
PET
Change Nov/Dec 21
€/tonne
-10
23
22
-20

Sustainable Plastics - January/February 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Sustainable Plastics - January/February 2022