Europe PET prices move up early Sept, rollover end of month

25 September 2009 23:59  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) September prices moved up at some accounts and rolled over at others, mostly according to when the agreements were made, sources said on Friday.

“We did get some increases early on and held with others at a rollover,” a producer confirmed.

Hikes of €50/tonne ($74/tonne) were reported and the €990/tonne free delivered (FD) Europe high remained intact. More moderate increases of €10-30/tonne were also heard. This was applicable to early September agreements.

“I thought prices would drop, but I was wrong. I thought they would go down because the indications in Asia on [upstream] purified terephthalic acid (PTA) and PET were weak. It is happening but not in Europe yet,” a customer commented.

With the outlook for October bearish, some customers preferred to delay settlements where possible and managed to roll over for September.

“At the beginning of the month it was possible to ask for more, but not at the end of the month,” according to another producer.

Contract prices were encompassed within €930-990/tonne FD, but some spot was recently heard below this, also for delivery in September.

Sellers were trying to cling onto the €900s/tonne FD Europe for October business, but decreases were likely, they said.

“Everybody knows that the price goes down next month,” one said.

While most industry players said it was too early to pinpoint where prices would land in October, another seller said it could ill afford to move down by more than €30/tonne.

“We are doing all we can to keep prices over the €900/tonne level,” he warned.

The mixture of hikes and rollovers meant a weighted average of €15/tonne was added to the August reference prices for September. The reference settlements culminated in €1,380-1,560/tonne FD West Europe and €1,095-1,105/tonne FD East Europe, according to global chemical market intelligence ICIS pricing.

($1 = €0.68)

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

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