July PET prices soar in Spain, drop elsewhere in Europe

24 July 2009 23:59  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--July prices for European polyethylene terephthalate (PET) soared in the Iberian Peninsular because of availability, yet plummeted in other areas following lower demand and competitively priced imports, sources said on Friday.

“The Spanish market is divorced from the rest of Europe in terms of prices,” a seller to the region said.

Spain and the regions surrounding it surpassed the €1,000/tonne ($1,429/tonne) mark, up from the mid-€900s/tonne seen in June. This was attributed to a lack of availability in the area because of recent plant closures during a hot summer which has enticed additional demand.

“Suddenly they all want offers. The weather and demand is improving and we have [higher] feedstocks in the background,” a reseller said.

Artenius said recently that it was running all of its plants at full capacity, apart from its two Spanish sites; San Roque had been down for months and El Prat de Llobregat was understood to be operating on one line. Other sources, however, claimed that the company’s UK site at Wilton remained down.

The Italian market saw a surge in purchases of imported material over the past few weeks and months, resulting in depressed pricing for European PET. Levels in Italy were quoted for July at €920-940/tonne, well above the low-to-mid-€800s/tonne which some customers bought at ex-Europe for July-September arrival.

“The Italians are good importers and they decided to fill their warehouses,” one source said.

Other west European countries hosted prices of €925-960/tonne in July for local product, reflecting a drop of up to €30/tonne from the previous month in some cases.

Eastern Europe was the worst hit in July and prices fell below €900/tonne from June’s €930-950/tonne, buyers and sellers said. The €890/tonne level was frequently quoted.

“The [price] gap is huge between customers, not only between countries,” according to one industry player.

The July monthly reference prices dropped by €30/tonne on the low side and went up by €40/tonne on the high side from June, to €1,335-1,545/tonne FD (free delivered) west Europe. FD east Europe prices fell by €40-50/tonne to €1,040-1,050/tonne, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

($1 = €0.70)

For more on PTA visit ICIS chemical intelligence 
To discuss issues facing the chemical industry go to ICIS connect
Please visit the complete ICIS plants and projects database

By: Caroline Howard
+44 20 8652 3214

For the latest chemical news, data and analysis that directly impacts your business sign up for a free trial to ICIS news - the breaking online news service for the global chemical industry.

Get the facts and analysis behind the headlines from our market leading weekly magazine: sign up to a free trial to ICIS Chemical Business.

Printer Friendly