10/06/2024
Market too well-balanced for escapades with most types / Downward pressure again expected for June / Only PMMA producers demand increases
Despite the heavy fall of EUR 151/t in the European benzene contract for May, producers managed to achieve a rollover for PC. Apart from that, the final acceptance of orders by plastics group Trinseo, which intends to close its plant in Stade in northern Germany in October, also helped to prevent prices from slipping. Despite the continuing cutbacks in European production and a significant reduction in the arrival of imports, there was still enough material on the market and stocks were generally well-filled. Automotive production provided for a small increase in demand, but converters’ stock-building activities were far fewer than expected.
For PA 6 and PA 6.6, the times of significant price increases are evidently over. The market is too well-balanced for escapades. Producers tried for a long time to keep prices stable, but from the second half of the month, they had to grant at least small reductions in order to be able to sell any material at all. This downward pressure is likely to remain despite the balanced market, but a major slump in prices is not expected.
Only PMMA and PBT witnessed a rise in quotations. This is likely to continue as the global supply situation with PMMA is poor and there is no improvement in sight. The conflict situation on the market, with the mix of European production and imports, was so complicated that it played into the hands of producers and helped to keep prices up. The scarcity of feedstock MMA and the still short supply of imports will lead to a situation in which European producers can afford a certain level of confidence and will try to lift prices up again.
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