E-Weekly
Sep 8th, 2008                                Print this article

TPE resin pricing: PE, PP down; PS steady

By Modern Plastics Editorial Staff

Polyethylene (PE) prices fell as offers rose, according to spot-trading platform, The Plastics Exchange (TPE; www.theplasticsexchange.com) and its partner The PetroChem Wire (www.petrochemwire.com). TPE saw large amounts of offgrade and generic-prime railcars made available, as many processors wait on the sidelines, expecting PE prices to fall further. Producers have pushed back the $0.08/lb price increase they requested for August to September. Generic prime railcars of high-density injection grades were offered in the low-to-mid $0.80’s/lb, with high molecular weight film trading in the low-to-mid $0.80’s/lb while low-density film settled in the upper $0.80’s/lb to lower $0.90’s/lb. In linear low-density film grades, TPE says offers have increased and the premiums that hexene- and octene-based films have held to butene have shrunk.

Spot polypropylene (PP) prices continued to drop, with the market’s focus remaining fixed on monomer prices and high-priced inventory liquidation. TPE reports that producers had nominated a $0.06/lb increase for August contracts, in an effort to recover margin lost earlier this year, but market participants now believe that increase has been rescinded. Generic-prime homopolymer was trading this week in the mid $0.80’s/lb, about 2-cents lower than last week. Copolymer was also down a couple cents into the upper $0.80’s/lb. In production news, LyondellBasell shuttered its Lake Charles, LA PP production facility in anticipation of Hurricane Gustav. The company relocated inventories from the Gulf Coast to minimize potential supply disruptions, which look to be minimal given the relatively weak impact the storm had.

Spot polystyrene (PS) prices were steady, but supply remained tight according to TPE. For the most part, offers throughout August have been significantly higher than those seen in July. Part of that increase is due to tight supplies, particularly in high-impact grades, which traded just above $1/lb, nearly 10 cents above general-purpose grades.

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