Standard recyclate prices have continued on an upward trend over the last two months driven by the rising cost of virgin material and post-consumer base scrap and tight supply.
R-PET prices lead the way: clear flake prices have risen by €250/tonne over the last two months, clear food-grade pellet prices are up by €100/tonne and coloured flake is up by €85/tonne over the same period.
Price increases for other standard recycled plastics product types have been much less. R-HIPS prices have increased by €80/tonne during March and April, mainly attributable to the soaring cost of virgin material. R-LDPE natural film and translucent film prices have risen by €50-60/tonne with R-HDPE and R-PP prices up by only €30-40/tonne.
While demand has improved slightly across all material types over the last two months, volume calls are still well below normal levels. In the R-PET sector, beverage preform producers are buying at close to normal levels. However, as the price gap between virgin PET and clear R-PET flake has narrowed considerably during the first quarter, some sheet producers are switching from R-PET to virgin material.
As sales remain an issue, recyclers are running their plants at rates just sufficient to meet demand and to avoid a build-up of stocks.
Recycled polyethylene terephthalate (R-PET)
In March, R-PET prices maintained a firm upward trend. R-PET clear flake prices increased by €90/tonne with R-PET food-grade pellet prices up by €45/tonne and coloured grade material prices rising by €35/tonne. In April, R-PET clear flake prices soared €150/tonne with clear food-grade pellet and coloured flake prices each up €50/tonne.
The upward price trend is driven by robust buying interest from converters and recyclers plus, the European Commission’s proposed recycled content goals pushed more converters to use R-PET. Lower collection rates are keeping post-consumer bottle bale prices under an upward pressure, which corresponds into less R-PET volumes and higher pricing.
While there has been some switching from R-PET to virgin PET in recent months by sheet and thermoforming converters as R-PET prices have soared, demand from beverage preform producers is reportedly almost back to normal levels. Meanwhile, PET recyclers have raised run rates to meet the growing demand for recyclate.
Recycled high-density polyethylene (R-HDPE)
In March, R-HDPE prices once again nudged slightly higher with gains of €10/tonne over the previous month. The rising cost of virgin material and a slight improvement in demand supported the modest price rise.
R-HDPE prices continued to rise slowly in April with gains of €20/tonne. Producers insisted on a price rise given higher costs and a small pick up in volume calls, particularly from the cosmetics and personal care sector.
Recycled low-density polyethylene (R-LDPE)
R-LDPE prices maintained an upward trajectory in March. Natural film grades once again led the way with gains of €40/tonne, followed by translucent film pellets with a rise of €30/tonne and extrusion black pellets with a rise of €10/tonne. R-LDPE prices are benefitting from the upward trend for virgin material and some switching to recyclate by processors.
The upward price trend moderated slightly in April with gains of €20/tonne for natural film and translucent film grades and a rise of €10/tonne for black extrusion pellets. The sharp uptrend for virgin LDPE prices in recent months has prompted some converters to order more recycled material.
Recycled polypropylene (R-PP)
R-PP prices nudged higher in March with black homopolymer pellets rising by €20/tonne and black copolymer pellets up by €10/tonne. Recyclers were largely unable to benefit fully from the growing interest being shown by processors in recyclate due to the soaring cost of standard PP. While base material was available, recyclers were generally reluctant to raise run rates to avoid development of excess stocks.
In April, R-PP copolymer prices edged €20/tonne higher with homopolymer material up by just €10/tonne. R-PP prices were supported by a small recovery in seasonal demand and further switching from virgin material to recyclate.
Recycled high-impact polystyrene (R-HIPS)
In March, R-HIPS prices increased by €50/tonne over the closing levels in the previous month; benefitting from rising demand from processors due to the skyrocketing cost of virgin material.R-HIPS recyclers raised prices by €30/tonne in April; quite a modest rise considering the soaring cost of virgin material. Recyclers hope to pass on larger price increases over coming months, bearing in mind the widening price gap between R-HIPS and virgin material.