No June swoon for commodity resin prices

As the George Gershwin classic almost said, it's summertime and the resin pricin' is easy.

PET was the only major North American commodity resin to show any movement in June, and that material recorded only a half-cent-per-pound increase for bottle resin. Prices for all other grades of polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene and PVC were flat for the month.

The PET hike was tied into higher demand for the material and slightly higher feedstock costs. It came after prices had slipped a penny per pound in May. The June hike ends a streak of three straight monthly declines totaling 3.5 cents per pound for the material.

Prior to those declines, regional PET prices had increased for six consecutive months, with those increases totaling 9.5 cents per pound.

Regional PE prices had dropped 3 cents per pound in May. That move wiped out a 3-cent hike that had taken hold in March. U.S./Canadian PE sales were mixed through May, according to the American Chemistry Council.

Sales of high density PE in the region were down almost 4 percent in the first five months of the year, as a domestic sales gain of almost 3 percent was wiped out by a drop of 25 percent in export sales. Low density PE sales in the region ticked up 0.5 percent in that period, with a domestic sales drop of 1 percent negated by an export sales gain of more than 5 percent.

In linear LDPE, regional sales grew almost 2 percent, as domestic growth of 4.5 percent was lowered by an almost 7 percent drop in export sales.

Domestic HDPE growth was fueled by a five-month surge of almost 24 percent in non-corrugated pipe and conduit. That wave included growth of 27 percent in water pipe and of almost 20 percent in gas distribution pipe.

LDPE found domestic sales growth in non-packaging film, where five-month sales were up 6 percent. For LLDPE, domestic sales into food packaging film soared 7 percent through May.

In PE feedstocks, West Texas Intermediate crude oil prices began June at $48.50 per barrel and ended the month around $47, for a drop of 3 percent. Regional prices for natural gas — used as a feedstock in most North American PE and PVC — started the month at $3.05 per million BTUs but were at $2.95 by the end of the month, for a decline of just over 3 percent.

A 7.5-cent PP decline in May came after prices for the material had dropped 6 cents in April. This two-month, 13.5-cent downturn comes after prices rose an average of 20.5 cents in the first three months of the year.

North American PP sales haven't been strong in the first five months of 2017, essentially coming in flat vs. the same period in 2016. Domestic PP sales fell almost 0.5 percent in that period, while export sales jumped 7 percent.

For PS, a 2-cent May decline was the second consecutive such move. Some buyers reported seeing a 3-cent drop, but most saw the 2-cent decrease, which had been announced by PS maker Americas Styrenics. AmSty now has announced a 2-cent increase effective Aug. 1.

PS prices had fallen by 5 cents in April after increasing by 6 cents in March. These moves have been driven by price volatility for benzene feedstock, which is used to make styrene monomer.

North American PS sales are off to a rough start in 2017, falling more than 2 percent through May. Sales of PS into consumer and institutional uses were down almost 9 percent in that period. PS sales into the electrical/electronic sector provided a bright spot, increasing more than 3 percent in those five months.

Regional PVC prices in June were flat for the third consecutive month. This flat spell has followed a two-month stretch in which prices increased a total of 6 cents per pound.

Through May, U.S./Canadian PVC sales were down almost 1 percent. Domestic sales grew almost 3 percent but were eclipsed by an export sales drop of more than 8 percent.

Domestic PVC growth in those five months came primarily from its dominant rigid pipe and tubing sector, where sales increased almost 5 percent.