This summer has brought brutal heat to parts of North America, but the heat hasn't led to as much demand for cold drinks in plastic bottles as expected.
As a result, PET bottle resin prices haven't had the typical summer rebound, rising only 1 cent in July after dropping two cents in both May and June. The July increase was due to higher feedstock costs, rather than increased consumption of bottled water and carbonated soft drinks, two major PET end markets.
PET prices now are down a net of 1 cent so far in 2023.
First quarter imports of PET into the U.S. totaled about 420 million pounds, down 25 percent vs. the same quarter in 2022, according to a recent report from market analyst Gareth Lamb with global trading firm Czarnikow in London. Lamb said that those totals have been down for three consecutive quarters as demand has weakened.