Summer Storm of Price Hikes
Soft or flat prices in the first five months of the year ended with a thunderclap in June.
The holiday is over. Soft or flat prices in the first five months of the year ended with a thunderclap in June. As outlined below, virtually all commodity, engineering, and thermoset prices are brewing up a storm of increases.
PE prices up
Polyethylene prices gained 3¢ to 6¢/lb in June as May hikes took effect. Suppliers aim to implement two more increases—7¢ for June and 5¢ for July. The London Metal Exchange (LME) July short-term futures contract in butene LLDPE for blown film (56.2¢/lb) hardly budged from June.
Contributing factors: After losing 20¢ of last year’s increases, PE suppliers aim to regain 18¢ before summer’s end. Says one major producer, “While not stellar, demand is now much more solid and there is a momentum for firming up prices.” Ethylene monomer contract prices rose 1.5¢ to 2¢/lb in May and another 1-2¢ looked possible for June.
PP rising too
Polypropylene prices rose 4¢/lb in May and were on the way up another 5-6¢ in June. New hikes of 4-5¢/lb were announced for July 1. LME’s July short-term futures contract for g-p injection-grade homopolymer was also on the rise—54.8¢/lb vs. June’s 53.2¢ and May’s 50.1¢/lb.
Contributing factors: Suppliers cite increased demand and continued escalation of costs of monomer, energy, and transportation as prompting their price hikes. Propylene monomer contracts rose 2.5¢ in May to 49.5¢/lb, and June contracts were expected to gain another 3¢. Demand was up 3% to 4% from 2005 in the second quarter. Says one producer, “Supply is tight and demand is firming, but it’s hard to tell how much is inventory replenishment.”
Higher PET prices
June bottle-resin tabs rose 4¢/lb as suppliers implemented May increases. An 8¢ hike is coming for July.
Contributing factors: Pressure from feedstocks, particularly paraxylene, is behind the latest increases. Paraxylene shot up from its typical level of 30¢ to 40¢/lb to 58¢/lb in June and is expected to top 60¢ this month.
On the other hand, resin supply has been ample and is growing. Wellman started up a 300-million-lb line last month, the first of over 1.1 billion lb of new capacity due by early 2007. At the same time, demand in the second quarter was up 7% over the same period a year ago, and resin operating rates are back up to the low 90% range.
Other polyolefins
Ticona, the sole North American manufacturer of UHMW-PE, is increasing prices as much as 20% on July 1.
Eval Co. of America hiked EVOH 15¢/lb on June 1.
Small PVC hike possible
PVC resin prices were flat or slightly lower in April and May, but producers hoped to get half of their 2¢/lb hike for June. PVC demand picked up in May. Preliminary figures show 2006 demand down 4.4% through April but off only 2% through May. Resin operating rates rose from 88% in April to 92% in May, but sales were at 97% of capacity.
PS threatened by soaring benzene
Polystyrene prices, down about 8¢ since December, are poised to take off again. Producers implemented a 5¢ increase announced for May 1 and all supported a 4¢ hike for July 1. Two producers announced another hike for July 10—Dow for 6¢ and Nova for 4¢/lb.
Contributing factors: Contract benzene prices rose from $2.80/gal in May to $3.30 in June. That ate up the 5¢ hike in May and left producers still in the red.
Engineering resins up in June & July
Nylons—DuPont’s standard nylons are up 12¢ and Zytel HTN grades up 16¢/lb. BASF raised standard nylons 10¢ and specialties 12¢/lb. Honeywell’s extrusion, fiber, and neat nylon 6 are up 8¢, DSM increased nylon 6, 66, and 46 by 12¢/lb.
Polyesters—DuPont and DSM hiked PET, PBT, and copolyester TPEs 12¢/lb, while BASF and Ticona raised them only 10¢. DuPont’s PCT went up 16¢.
Styrenics—BASF and Lanxess hiked ABS, ASA, AES, SAN, ASA/PC, and ABS/nylon 7¢/lb.
Also, acetals from DuPont and BASF went up 10¢ and DuPont’s LCPs rose 16¢. Ticona’s filled PPS rose 10%.
Thermoset increases
Unsaturated polyesters saw a 3¢/lb increase from Reichhold, AOC, Interplastic, and CCP in late June.
On July 1, Dow lifted tabs of liquid and solid epoxies by 6¢ to 8¢/lb, while cycloaliphatic epoxides rose 20¢/lb June 15.
Market Prices Effective Mid-June A |
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KEY: Colored areas indicate pricing activity. An arrow () indicates direction of price change. aTruckload, unless otherwise specified. bUnfilled, natural color, unless otherwise specified. cBased on typical or average density. dNot applicable. eNovolac and anhydride grades for coils, bushings, transformers. fNovolac and anhydride grades for resisitors, capacitors, diodes. gIn quantities of 20,000 lb. h19,800-lb load. jLME 30-day futures contract for lots of 54,564 lb.. |
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