Indications for higher styrene prices in March concern Europe PS market

Vasiliki Parapouli

23-Feb-2017

Focus article by Vasiliki Parapouli

LONDON (ICIS)–The European polystyrene (PS) market is cautiously monitoring feedstock styrene price movements ahead of the upcoming March contract settlement, while some players have yet to finalise their remaining February business, sources said on Thursday.

Looking where European styrene spot numbers currently are, most PS sources expect an increase of €80-100/tonne for the March contract price.

Nevertheless, after the significant price jumps of styrene in the past few months, any further upward movement will not help the PS business, as it cannot be absorbed in a healthy way, they said.

With PS prices on record high levels, even those customers that were not seriously thinking of switching to an alternative material are now considering of doing so, according to a buyer.

Meanwhile, demand from the producers’ side seems to be holding strong while order entry for March is 35% higher in some cases when compared to four weeks ago.

Customers have been seriously reluctant to buy any material during the past five months, especially in packaging, as they wanted to avoid building up stocks or simply because they found prices uncompetitive, sources said.

Nevertheless, now the pipeline is empty for many of them and they are forced to buy, a producer added.

At the same time, several other customers, who struggled to push through the recent PS price increases quickly enough to their customers, decided either to stop production or to produce only for those that could pay for what they needed, it added.

According to market estimates, March looks more promising than February as it also has more working days, but volumes will surely be lower year-on-year.

Sources in distribution were experiencing a spike in their demand from typically spot buyers who were asking for volumes for both March and April significantly above normal levels.

Therefore, these sources were questioning if the market was facing some production issues.

For the moment, production was said to be running well across the region.

In the second week of the month, European February PS contract prices were assessed at €2,385-2,535/tonne FD (free delivered) EU for general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) and at €2,475-2,625/tonne FD EU for high impact polystyrene (HIPS).

Europe PS chart

READ MORE

Global News + ICIS Chemical Business (ICB)

See the full picture, with unlimited access to ICIS chemicals news across all markets and regions, plus ICB, the industry-leading magazine for the chemicals industry.

Contact us

Now, more than ever, dynamic insights are key to navigating complex, volatile commodity markets. Access to expert insights on the latest industry developments and tracking market changes are vital in making sustainable business decisions.

Want to learn about how we can work together to bring you actionable insight and support your business decisions?

Need Help?

Need Help?