If there's one word that could point to the central theme in resin prices this year, it's "lower." As in lower demand and lower prices for commodity thermoplastics, engineering resins and recycled material.
PN's Frank Esposito reports one Midwest buyer described regional demand for engineering resins as "lackluster."
Polystyrene, polypropylene, PET bottle resin, polyethylene and PVC prices have all been falling through the summer, reflecting a combination of lower demand and lower feedstock costs. That has some buyers buying up stock while prices are down.
"While domestic demand for PP has improved from previous months ... it seems to be more a function of buyers not wanting to miss out at these price points than a need for material because of strong consumer demand into big- box retailers," New York-based PP supplier Blue Clover LLC said earlier this summer.
Lower virgin resin prices mean that prices have also dropped for recycled plastics. PN's Bridget Janis reports that both high density PE and recycled PET prices have dropped recently.
"There is a huge preference for cheap, amply available, high-quality virgin resin," said Gareth Lamb, a PET resin and recycling analyst at Czarnikow Group Ltd.