June PS prices decline in Mexico as demand softens

10 June 2010 19:21  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--Polystyrene (PS) producers in Mexico are reducing prices for all grades in June, effective immediately, as a result of cheaper feedstocks and softer demand, market sources said on Thursday.

Buyers received a letter from Americas Styrenics reducing PS prices by 3 cents/lb for general-purpose PS (GPPS) and by 1 cent/lb for high impact (HIPS) material.

The measure was echoed by other producers seeking to compete for market share.

Buyers continued to press for at least a 5-cent/lb reduction for GPPS and negotiations were ongoing. It was not clear if producers would yield to buyer pressure.

Domestic demand was softening because the boost in PS consumption spurred by soccer’s World Cup was over, and demand for disposables for the food sector was declining due to the end of the school year, a transformer said.

The lessons from 2008, when the global economic crisis started, were still present in the memories of market players, and everyone continued to operate with minimal inventories.

Prior to the June reduction, GPPS prices in Mexico were in the range of $1,720-1,764/tonne DEL (delivered) (€1,428-1,464/tonne) while HIPS prices were at $2,028-2,094/tonne DEL, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

The main PS producers in Mexico are Resirene, BASF and Idesa. Americas Styrenics supplies PS products manufactured in the US.

($1 = €0.83)

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By: George Martin
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