Europe October PTA price falls in line with upstream PX

26 November 2010 23:59  [Source: ICIS news]

VALENCIA, Spain (ICIS)--European October purified terephthalic acid (PTA) contract prices moved down by €3/tonne ($4/tonne) in line with movements in upstream paraxylene (PX), buyers and sellers said on Friday.

“For October… the price changed by the equivalent of PX pass versus September,” a major producer said.

Producers of PTA were trying to improve margins by up to €30/tonne and one said it had achieved a €10/tonne increase from the third quarter to the fourth quarter.

Prices were moving up towards the end of the year because what was happening upstream. By November, the value of PTA could rise above €800/tonne based purely on calculations made with the PX pass-through.

The market was tight because of a pull on downstream polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and this was likely to continue into December, suppliers said.

However, customers said they were receiving their contracted volumes and they were not feeling the much-publicised tightness in the market.

PKN Orlen in Poland was not going to start up its new 600,000 tonne/year plant until the end of the first quarter in 2011, or at the start of the second quarter, according to market players. The unit had been scheduled to start at the end of 2010.

PKN was not available for comment.

($1 = €0.75)

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By: Caroline Murray
44208 652 3214

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