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[ Resin Pricing Chart ]

Rising monomer prices and strong export demand helped lift prices of all commodity resins as well as some engineering, thermoset, and foam materials.

PE prices up
Polyethylene prices moved up last month as suppliers pushed to implement Nov. 1 increases of 5¢/lb. The total rise in PE resin tabs so far this year is 19-21¢/lb (the higher end for hexene and octene LLDPE). Also on the table: a 6¢/lb hike for Dec. 1 (moved from Nov. 15) and 5¢ for Dec. 15. Meanwhile, the London Metal Exchange (LME) short-term North American futures contract for December in blown film butene LLDPE was 60.8¢, up from November’s 57.3¢/lb.

Contributing factors: Domestic PE demand has been low and exports—this year’s saving grace for domestic PE suppliers—are turning a bit softer. Monomer price is what’s driving up PE tabs. October ethylene contracts rose 5¢, bringing them to 57.5¢/lb, and November contracts were liable to rise 8¢ to 10¢/lb. Planned and unplanned production disruptions plus strong export demand resulted in record low ethylene inventories in the third quarter. Moreover, ethane, the feedstock for ethylene, was selling at a record high of $1.07/gal last month compared with a more typical 60¢/gal.

PP prices up, too
Polypropylene prices were moving up at least 7¢/lb last month as suppliers aimed to implement Oct. 1 hikes of 3¢ to 4¢/lb along with the Nov. 1 increase of 6¢/lb. LME’s North American December futures for g-p injection-grade homopolymer sold at 64.6¢/lb, up from November’s 59.3¢.

Contributing factors: Propylene monomer prices are driving the resin moves, as monomer contracts rose 3¢ in October to 56.75¢/lb. November contract bids were up a whopping 7.25¢/lb. Resin suppliers attribute these record monomer increases to higher crude oil prices and reduced monomer supplies caused by third-quarter production outages and shifts to use of lighter feedstocks.

Domestic demand is slow, as processors work off inventories during a seasonal slowdown. Says Lowell Huovinen, v.p. of client services at RTI, “Processors are shutting down some production lines because they simply cannot push through these price increases to their customers.”

According to Huovinen, U.S. PP prices continue to be attractive for export to Europe and Central America, but demand abroad is slowing, particularly in Europe, where plants are recovering from unplanned outages. PP exports to China have also fallen as China buys material from more convenient Pacific Rim sources. If exports do not rebound, monomer and resin prices will have to fall, says Huovinen.

PVC makers asking 6¢ more
PVC resin producers were all trying for a 6¢ hike last month on top of a 2¢ increase for October. Processors expect the indexes on which many PVC contracts are based to post a slightly lower increase of 4¢ to 5¢.

Contributing factors: The big cost driver is ethylene feedstock, expected to go up 6¢ to 7¢/lb last month. Ethylene is half the cost of PVC. Domestic PVC demand is weak, but exports are strong because of the weak dollar.

PS expected to rise 2¢
Polystyrene resin producers initially asked for a 4¢/lb hike in November, on top of a 3¢ increase in October But Total and Ineos capped the hike with a TVA of 2¢.

Contributing factors: Ethylene feedstock is the driving factor, as noted above for PVC. October PS demand was up 5.9% over September levels, but was still down 4.8% for the year to date and was facing further seasonal slowing.

Other increases

• Bayer MaterialScience raised polycarbonate 9¢/lb on Nov. 15.
• DSM Engineering Plastics hiked PBT 12¢ and copolyester TPEs 15¢/lb on Dec. 1.
• BASF increased ABS, SAN, ASA, and ABS/nylon by 4¢ to 5¢/lb Nov. 1.
• AOC hiked unsaturated polyesters, vinyl esters, gel coats, and additives 4¢/lb on Dec. 3 while Reichhold announced an 8¢ hike for Dec. 17.
• Dow increased prices for urethane polyols by 8¢ to 11¢/lb on Dec. 1, while pure MDI went up 10¢/lb.