With the exception of PC, most prices roll over / Supply and demand generally very weak / Minor price increases expected in March / Substantial price rise for glass fibres

Prices of PC compounds and blends rose in February, as did the PA 6 natural grades. All the other types remained at a rollover and, because of the generally weak to very weak demand, so did the glass-fibre reinforced grades. With the latter, however, further trouble is brewing in the coming weeks.

Ordering by the car manufacturing industry continues to be very slow, but the construction and E&E sectors managed to make up for some of the shortfall. Stocks were only being built up slowly, among other things because of converters’ current lack of liquidity. There were also occasional reports of converters shutting down plants.

Producers will make fresh efforts in March to factor in their increased costs for energy and logistics. Some converters will hardly be able to avoid submitting orders because of their very low stock levels, and they should be successful with nearly all types – even though the plant stoppages at VW and BMW will slow things down a little, presumably at least until mid-March. With some materials, feedstock bottlenecks are also causing problems. At least sheets and E&E remain at a solid level.

In the case of fibre-reinforced grades, the situation with short glass fibres is an additional problem. Looking ahead at Q2, there is talk of increases in the region of EUR 300-500/t.

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