Standard Thermoplastics Trend May 2012: Polyolefins fall on lower feedstocks / PVC stable/PS and EPS cost rises hard to recoup/ Lengthening oversupply/ Sinking crude notations could trigger more polymer price cuts

摘要

After initial signs in April, the trend towards oversupply on the western European market for standard thermoplastics gained considerable momentum in the first third of May. The extremely high feedstock prices seen in the first quarter of 2012 began crumbling for the first time this year, with ethylene (C2) and propylene (C3) down by EUR 20/t and EUR 15/t respectively. After the price rally earlier in the year, PE saw a downward correction by the same margin as C2, while PP fell by twice the margin of C3. The one exception was PVC, which is still in a rollover. PS and EPS producers are having problems digesting the EUR 47/t rise in the cost of styrene monomer (SM).