North America November 2013: PE and PVC move sideways / PP prices drop again but end to declines in sight / PS downward trend over / PET still weak / Very little momentum on the engineering thermoplastics front

摘要

Though North American ethylene prices continued to climb upwards in November - spot notations rose by more than USD 100/t, while the contract was fixed USD 25/t higher -polyethylene prices remained on a sideways course. Faced with a long market, producers did not issue any price calls for December or January. October figures were already pointing to a significant increase in PE producer stock levels says PIE's US cooperation partner, RTi (Fort Worth, Texas; www. resinpros.com). There is little chance of the export channel offering any relief as the prices requested by US producers are simply not competitive enough. While most end markets expect prices to decline, producers are adamant about keeping notations at the current level. Even with inventories bursting at the seams, trade channels are said to be surprisingly quiet.