Further polyolefin rises are expected in January, although PS prices have begun to fall

Polyolefin suppliers pushed prices up again this month, on the back of tight supply. Polyethylene producers led the charge by implementing price increases of up to 4%, while polypropylene notations were up by nearly 3% over the previous month. Outages at major cracker plants compounded a tight monomer supply situation and sent spot ethylene prices soaring.

In contrast, polystyrene prices tumbled by more than 5% after a sudden fall in the price of styrene and benzene. PVC producers were content to hold onto price gains in December in a very quiet market and notations were largely unchanged. PET prices maintained their upward momentum on the back of very tight supply in key feedstocks.

With supply likely to remain on the tight side and ethylene costs rising, polyolefin producers will be pushing for further price hikes in January. The same scenario applies to both PVC and PET. Polystyrene, on the other hand, looks to be on the way down, especially if the Q1 styrene monomer price settles lower as expected and demand fails to recover.