Mexico PP, PE imports from US rose, PS dropped

HOUSTON (ICIS)–Mexico polymer imports from the US rose for polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) resins, but dropped for polystyrene (PS) in December 2015, as shown in data released this week by the US International Trade Commission (ITC).

PS imports dropped about 20% in December 2015 compared to the same month last year.

PS market participants in Mexico said PS import prices dropped in December (as they did in January and February of 2016) to encourage buyers to restock, as demand was soft.

Mexico US PS imports

By contrast, PP imports rose in December 2015 by about 16% from the same month in 2014, even when US PP prices rose in December by about 2 cents/lb from November 2015. Demand was said to be steady, but supply limited.

Mexico’s PE imports from the US for 2015 rose for LLDPE, HDPE, and LDPE resins. Domestic supply in Mexico has been limited for all grades since September, when Pemex PE production began to have problems that continued through the end of November. At that time, all PE production was said to be down because of maintenance.  By December, production returned to its normal levels. However, production was on and off in January for a train producing LDPE at La Cangrejera.

Since then, inventories have remained low.  In addition, domestic demand increased as the Mexican peso fell against the US dollar. Pemex is the only PE supplier selling in pesos. When the currency depreciates, buyers turn to the domestic producer to secure a fixed price for the resins.