Notations continue to crumble / Polyamides increasingly under pressure / Further erosion in PC and PMMA / Trends likely to continue in December

As expected, engineering thermoplastics prices fell slightly in November, taking their cue from the earlier decline in feedstock notations. In addition, there are signs that a noticeable shift is taking place in the polyamide market, with the competitive pressure exerted by new Asian capacities now also having affected base PA 6 grades. This effect had previously been limited to feedstock caprolactam. A rising number of former export quotas are being returned to the European market, as Asian demand is increasingly met by local producers. The resultant undertow in the polyamide markets has also impacted the related PA 6.6.

There were also minor corrections in PC and PMMA notations, while the more commodity-related ABS and PP compounds stopped the downtrend, and in some cases have even started to move in the opposite direction. POM and PBT still seemed immune to any weakness.

The current trends for the respective types will likely continue in December. While ABS and PP compounds notations are expected to point further up, polyamide prices will continue to fall. Additional downward corrections also seem possible for PC and PMMA, while PBT and POM appear to be trending stable.

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