PVC, solid PS up while PP down big in March

Solid polystyrene and PVC resins both saw price hikes in North America in March, while regional polypropylene prices took another big tumble.

Meanwhile, prices in the region for polyethylene were flat for the month and PET bottle resin prices slipped by a penny, ending a lengthy streak of increases.

Regional suspension PVC prices moved up an average of 2 cents per pound for March after moving up 3 cents in February. Prior to those increases, PVC prices had been flat in January and down a penny in December.

These February-March increases have taken hold as a result of a stronger export market and because of limited production at some PVC plants in the region, market sources said.

U.S./Canadian PVC sales grew just over 1 percent in January, according to the American Chemistry Council, with export growth of almost 6 percent making up for a decline of almost 1 percent in domestic sales. Two-month PVC sales into its flagship rigid pipe and tubing end market were down almost 3 percent, as winter weather slowed construction activity.

In other major PVC end markets, sales of the material into film and sheet slumped almost 7 percent through February, while PVC sales into extruded windows and doors are off to a scorching start in 2018, surging almost 20 percent.

Regional PS prices moved up an average of 4 cents per pound for March after rising 2 cents in February. The hike surprisingly occurred even though benzene feedstock prices declined slightly. The upward push was a result of production outages down the chain, according to Phil Karig, managing director of the Mathelin Bay Associates consulting firm in St. Louis.

Prices for PS had been flat in January after climbing 5 cents in December, placing the total increase for the last four months at 11 cents.

North American PS sales slumped almost 7 percent in the first two months of 2018. A domestic sales loss of just over 7 percent was softened somewhat by an increase of almost 5 percent in export sales.

One bright spot for regional PS sales in the first two months of the year came in sales to distributors and resellers, which grew just over 6 percent. That category accounted for more than 10 percent of domestic PS sales during that period.

PP prices declined by an average of 6 cents per pound in March. Prices had fallen by a similar amount in February after jumping up 9 cents in January. Some 21 cents of combined price movement in three months is a lot for a commodity material, even one as volatile as PP.

The 6-cent March drop matched a similar price decline for polymer-grade propylene (PGP) feedstock. Supplies of both PP resin and propylene monomer have improved after a winter cold snap affected production in the Houston area. That cold snap led to the 9-cent January jump.

Scott Newell, a PP market analyst with Resin Technology Inc. in Fort Worth, Texas, thinks the 6-cent March price drop will be the last big decline seen for a while. A major PP buyer in the Midwest told Plastics News that an April price reduction could be around 2 cents.

Newell also said North American PP demand has had seven straight months of below average demand, so March demand numbers "will show a decent pop." The weak PP demand that Newell was referring to was seen in sales data for the first two months of 2018 from ACC.

North American PP sales for that two-month period were down almost 4 percent vs. the same period in 2017. A domestic sales decline of almost 3 percent was worsened by a plunge of almost 28 percent for sales into the export market.

PP posted positive domestic sales results for those two months in film — up almost 5 percent — and injection molded caps and closures, where sales grew almost 1 percent.

Prior to the February slide, North American PP prices had increased for seven consecutive months, with those increases totaling 19.5 cents per pound. Higher domestic demand combined with supply outages had played a role in these price hikes.

The 1-cent price PET decline ended a streak of nine consecutive months in which prices had increased. Those nine increases totaled 13 cents per pound. Lower feedstock prices were cited as a reason for the price drop. Demand for PET could be increasing as warmer weather drives demand for bottled water and carbonated soft drinks, two of the material's major end markets.

PET bottle resin prices in the region had remained tight in the wake of M&G Polymers' bankruptcy-related shutdown of its 800 million-pound-capacity plant in Apple Grove, W.Va. That plant now has been purchased by Far East New Century Corp. of Taiwan and is expected to restart, which would improve supplies for the regional market.

Regional PE prices were flat in March after climbing 4 cents in February. That move had followed a 3-cent January decline.

U.S./Canadian PE sales got off to a mixed start through February, according to ACC. Regional sales of high density PE were up more than 3 percent, with linear low density PE sales rising almost 8 percent. But sales of low density PE had a rough start to the year, slipping more than 7 percent.

For HDPE, domestic sales growth of almost 4 percent was dampened slightly by export growth of less than 2 percent. Domestic HDPE sales growth in that period was boosted by a gain of almost 14 percent for sales into pipe and conduit, including a gain of almost 21 percent in water pipe.

In LLDPE, exports boomed almost 38 percent in the two months — fueled by new capacity added in 2017 — boosting flat domestic sales. Domestic LLDPE sales into injection molding grew 17 percent in the two-month period.

LDPE's 6 percent domestic sales drop in those 60 days was worsened by an 11.5 percent plunge in export sales. In spite of the overall sales drop, sales of LDPE into food packaging film jumped more than 2 percent for the two months.