Resin prices have been less volatile as we enter the summer, but a variety of factors could lead to bigger changes in June and July.
In the June Polymer Points Live, senior reporter Frank Esposito noted that North American prices for polyethylene, PVC and polystyrene were flat in May. Recording below.
“Polyethylene, all over the place, they had that increase earlier in the year so people were expecting a [price] reduction [in May],” Esposito said.
“That really didn’t happen. For May there was another increase on the table. There’s also an increase for June that also hasn’t gone through. So polyethylene being flat, not much of a surprise, but kind of indicative for the chaotic activity that we had seen earlier in the year for that material,” he said.
Esposito explained some of the factors why monthly contract prices are settling so late, especially for polyethylene.
Polypropylene and PET buyers both saw lower prices in May. That was a surprise for PET, which typically sees higher prices in the summer. And PP buyers saw a 2-cent drop, but many were expecting more, considering the slumping economy and improved feedstock supply situation.
Esposito gave a list of reasons why pricing could be more volatile in the coming months, including hurricane and other weather-related activity on the Gulf Coast; plant outages in Mexico caused by a serious drought, and a styrene plant outage in Canada.
The next Polymer Points Live is scheduled for Thursday, July 25.