News Plastech
The European chemical industry is grappling with declining competitiveness, high energy costs and regulatory pressure. In the interview, the PIPC president indicates that without a strong chemical base, Europe will not maintain its economic security or investment capacity.
The European plastics industry faces challenges from strict regulations, rising recycling demands, and record-high energy costs. Production is shifting outside the EU, risking dependence on imports and weakened competitiveness.
The European plastics recycling sector is sliding into one of its deepest crises to date. By the end of 2025, Europe will have lost nearly one million tonnes of recycling capacity since 2023.
Commentary by Anna Kozera-Szałkowska, Managing Director of Plastics Europe Poland.
Davis-Standard, a global leader in the design and manufacturing of extrusion and converting technology, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ching Gettman as President of the Davis-Standard Global Services team
As previously reported by Chem-Courier, demand for food film and plastic bottles may increase in the near future due to European events such as the Olympics and the Football Championship, which will take place this summer.
Market players expect only a modest increase in demand.
PE, PP demand continues to remain low in Poland. Market players note that off-grade material has been more popular this month.
Guangzhou successfully concluded on 6 March 2024. Running concurrently, these exhibitions brought together industry players from around the world and presented comprehensive overview of the latest manufacturing technologies and industry advancements.
Sluggish demand continues to negatively affect market conditions. Low demand in Europe is likely to prompt further price declines next month.
Lacklustre demand has caused another decrease in PP prices. Purchases that traders and manufacturers were hoping for did not materialise to the extent they expected, according to Chem-Courier’s information.
Average EU PET beverage bottles’ recycled content rate reached 24%, yet more work is needed to achieve the 2025 EU targets.
Despite the lack of some materials in the market, there is no panic or increased purchasing activity from converters who buy raw materials only as needed.
Those manufacturers and traders that have still been open for orders, have raised polyolefins prices again at levels even €80-100/t higher than last week.
Polish market players have reported better demand for both PE and PP from converters. Among other factors, this is why we are seeing another round of polyolefin price increases in Poland.
The polyolefin market has started reviving in H1 January. Market players say that in addition to completing December deliveries, they already have new orders for PP and PE, with the former bought more frequently than the latter.
Demand has been low in the Polish polyolefin market in the last pre-holiday week, according to Chem-Courier’s data. Converters have been tapping into their raw material stocks or purchasing only small batches.
Indorama Ventures Public Company Limited, has been selected for inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) for the fifth consecutive year and the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index (DJSI Emerging Markets) for the seventh year in a row.
According to traders, clients have been ordering both large lots of several hundred tonnes and small ones of under 24 t delivered on pallets.
Contract prices for monomers and, ultimately, polyolefins, have predictably moved down in Poland in December.
Despite raw material depreciation, converters did not buy more, they continue to purchase raw materials only on an as-needed basis. Some of them are using the stocks built during previous months
Polish converters continue to buy polyolefins on an ad hoc basis, and if possible, hold off new purchases in anticipation of further price cuts. Packaging remains one of the most active consuming industries.
Although polyolefins have got cheaper this month, converters have still been holding off restocking and have been reduced purchases compared with October.
Monomer contract prices were announced early this week.
Converters, as usual, have been sluggish in the market in late October. All of its players have been waiting for new price announcements.
Customers often wait until the second week of the month to make purchasing decisions. They want to have a complete picture of the market
The end of September has seen increased demand for polyolefins compared with the middle of the month in the Polish market.
According to Chem-Courier’s data, PE prices gained €30 - 60/t week on week depending on the grade, or €70 - 125/t month on month, in Europe last week. However, this had no effect on demand.
PE and PP supply has tightened in the Polish market this week. It was nearly impossible to get the material from polyolefin producers for two weeks prior to this one, and now it is getting increasingly more difficult to buy it from traders as well.
A reported shortage of polyolefins in Poland has caused panic among converters.
"Many customers are interested in prices and will most likely start restocking in August" - a market participant said.
Demand has reportedly been steady in the last week of July. "We still see weak demand for polyolefins in Poland; still, some companies decided to build small stocks due to a predicted price increase" - a trader has commented.
The situation has begun changing in the Polish polyolefin market. PE and PP producers are reducing their capacity utilisation or storing their products while refusing to sell large quantities of the commodity to traders and converters.
Freilassing, Siegsdorf, Rüti. WirtschaftsWoche, the renowned German business magazine, examined 4000 German medium-sized companies to determine the 50 most sustainable. The Brückner Group, with headquarters in Siegsdorf, is one of them.
Demand for injection PE has strengthened this week, according to Polish traders. ‘We get the most enquiries for injection HDPE and LDPE and the fewest requests for PP homopolymers from converters,’ one of the market players has reported. Converters that make products from PP complain about limited polymer availability.
In H2 June, converters have been slow to make new purchases regardless of special offers, discounts and traders minimal margins in anticipation of another price reduction next month