Buyers are holding out in expectation of lower prices next month

Polymer demand was subdued this month as buyers held back from making additional purchases in the hope that prices may turn down in the near future. As a result, all classes of standard thermoplastics increased at a lower rate than producers wanted. Prices for ethylene-based plastics and PVC grew by no more than 3%. Polypropylene, polystyrene and PET prices all increased by around 1.5%.

Material availability was improved, with most production outages being resolved. Producer stocks for all plastic types remain low but no real material shortages were reported. There were sharp rises in the second quarter ethylene (up E80/tonne) and propylene (up E60/tonne) contract prices. Polyolefin and PVC producers will want to recover as much of this as possible.