Corrected: Europe August PET falls €20-50/tonne to €1,050-1,100/tonne

26 August 2010 14:27  [Source: ICIS news]

Correction: In the ICIS story headlined “Europe August PET falls €20-50/tonne to €1,050-1,150/tonne” dated 26 August 2010, please read the headline as “Europe August PET falls €20-50/tonne to €1,050-1,100/tonne” instead of “€1,050-1,150/tonne”. Please read in the first paragraph … settled at €1,050-1,100/tonne … instead of … €1,050-1,150/tonne. Please read the second paragraph … Following the lower contract settlement … instead of … As a result of the lower contract settlement…. A corrected story follows.

LONDON (ICIS)--European polyethylene terephthalate (PET) contract prices for August have settled at €1,050-1,100/tonne ($1,329-1,392/tonne), €20-50/tonne below the July contract settlement, due to drops in the value of raw materials, according to buyers and sellers on Thursday. 

Following the lower contract settlement, which was on a free delivered (FD) Europe basis, PET producers said they have increased spot prices by up to €70/tonne as a result of firming sentiment in the market due to expectations of higher production costs in September.

“Spot prices could have been around €1,030/tonne at the beginning of August, but we are now at a €1,100/tonne minimum,” said one of the producers, echoing comments from other sellers and buyers. 

PET players were speculating on the price of upstream paraxylene (PX), which is a feedstock for PET’s main feedstock, purified terephthalic acid (PTA), increasing by €20-40/tonne from the previous month’s levels of €745/tonne FD (free delivered) NWE (northwest Europe). 

In Asia, nominations for September PX were heard at $980-1,020 CFR (cost and freight) Asia. 

Monoethylene glycol (MEG), PET’s other feedstock, was tight and customers said they expect prices to rise by €40/tonne in September compared with €755/tonne in August. 

PET from outside Europe was scarce because Asia and the US were becoming more attractive to producers in the Middle East, sources agreed. 

“In September, spot will increase. That is for sure, probably because everyone [will be] back from holiday and may need to secure prices,” said a customer. 

European PET contract prices for July settled at €1,090-1,150/tonne FD Europe.

($1 = €0.79)

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By: Caroline Murray
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