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.
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.
The situation has been unclear in the Polish polyolefin market in the first week of July. Traders have informed that converters are actively asking for quotes, but few of them are buying the commodities. Converters of polypropylene, its copolymers in particular, are the most active.
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
The Polish polyolefin market was mainly inactive in H1 June.
From 2018, the market was characterised by low prices and cheap import. We had survived the first wave of the epidemic, the demand suddenly started. However, polymer deliveries were delayed due to a lack of containers. All this generated an actual shortage.
The monthly ICIS Petrochemical Index (IPEX) is recording a collapse in commodity petrochemical and polymer prices worldwide as economic and cost pressures for the sector mount.
At the beginning of last week, both “feedstock” and energy prices reached their highest levels in 10 years. The price of oil was 139 USD/barrel, NAPHTHA was 1,121.7 USD/t and the price of natural gas was 227.201 Euro/MWh.
The market is in turmoil. The escalating Russian-Ukrainian war is distracting from the deal. An unprecedented situation, market participants do not know how to react.
Evonik's High Performance Polymers Business Line announces a price increase for its Vestamid, Vestosint, Vestamelt, Vestodur, and Trogamid product lines effective April 1, 2022.
Towards the end of the year, the PVC industry is still confronted with the difficult supply situation and the ongoing price increases on the market. Force majeure statements continue. Prices for electricity and gas rise incredibly. The situation hits the whole plastics industry value chain hard.