David Platt

Prices are down across the board this month in very thin trading

Processors minimising stocks as year-end approaches

Standard thermoplastics producers have attempted to improve their underperforming margins over the last two months, but, with the exception of PVC, have largely been unsuccessful because of persistent low demand and adequate supply.

PVC's surprising resilience can be attributed to the margin recovery attempts by producers that have been keeping the momentum tilted to the upside over the previous few months.

Suppliers focusing on inventory reduction

PS grades see reductions of €200/tonne following a drop of €202/tonne for the styrene monomer reference price

Standard thermoplastics producers have attempted to improve their underperforming margins once again this month, but have so far, with the exception of PVC, been rather less successful

Demand for standard recyclate failed to recover as expected when the holiday period drew to a close in September

R-PET demand subsides in September

Market expectations are for a significant reduction in PET prices this month, possibly in the of €40-50/tonne range

In August and through to mid-September, European standard thermoplastics producers have made small margin gains with prices rising ahead of the increase in feedstock costs.

This month, the price of most classes of standard recyclate materials are being rolled over with a small price uptick for higher quality grades.

Only R-PET demand close to normal level