Europe PTA falls €307/tonne from Aug to Dec on devalued PX

15 December 2008 10:58  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--European purified terephthalate acid (PTA) prices fell €307/tonne ($409/tonne) to €613-640/tonne from August to December due to a devaluation of the feedstock paraxylene (PX), sources said on Monday.

"[PTA] fell around €300/tonne since August. That’s enough. Customers try to back to back it [with PX] but our margins are so skinny that if I call €20/tonne wrong on PX, I end up out of pocket,” said a producer.

PX dropped €455/tonne from August to December, landing at €525/tonne FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe).

PTA buyers and sellers confirmed the PX pass-through applied in most cases from August to December, though figures varied slightly depending on the source.

Contracts from August to September went down by €96-97/tonne. The fall from September to October was reported between €63-65/tonne; October to November saw a €92-100/tonne drop and December prices were €50/tonne lower than the previous month.

“PTA has settled around €630/tonne because of where PX settled. €525/tonne gives [PET producers] a lot of margin,” another supplier said.

The quick succession of agreements for September to December followed months of deliberation over the June and July agreements, according to global chemical market intelligence service, ICIS pricing.  

($1 = €0.75)

For more on PTA visit ICIS chemical intelligence
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By: Caroline Howard
+44 20 8652 3214

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