Page 63 - Plastics News February 2024

IN THE NEWS

ticeable as it came midweek amid an resin. Demand from Latin America, railcars on offer cleared by the end
active market, said the PlasticsEx- particularly Mexico, was healthy as lo- of the month. PP prices regained the
change. cal processors looked north for reli- $0.015/lb it lost just a week earlier
Exports shore up resin prices able supply while they faced shipping as availability thinned and monomer
delays and rising costs from the Mid- costs firmed.
Producers were not shy with their dle East and Asian regions.
increases, as they have excellent al- Upstream resin stocks have been
ternative demand coming from the Spot prime PE prices at the Plastic- healthy, although some of that resin is
export market. The spot market re- sExchange have risen about $0.03/ being held for upcoming turnarounds.
acted to the upside, with PE picking lb since mid-December and have Also, the Ineos force majeure remains
up a cent late in the week and PP pil- upward momentum. The lower end on PP from its Chocolate Bayou com-
ing on another penny and a half, re- of the market has rallied even more plex, which faced equipment issues
covering the previous week’s losses while export prices have risen about during the recent Houston freeze.
to return to season-high levels. Buy- a dime in the past 45 days, lending Reseller stocks of readily available
ers were unfazed by the rising prices growing support to producers’ price resin continued to dwindle, as buyers
and the steady order flow continued increase initiatives. scooped up most remaining favorably
in early February. Nickel increase on table for PE priced Prime lots. While the bottom
of the pricing spectrum lifted higher,
A large number of resin requests came contracts some less desirable material like low-
from international buyers, who have It is still uncertain how January PE flow off grade and transitional materi-
started to concede to higher levels as contracts will settle ultimately. The als remained priced around monomer.
global prices climb, largely spurred by major indices have indicated flat to up
escalating ocean freight costs as a re- by $0.05/lb. Producers would be hap- Prime packaged homo- and copoly-
sult of logistics constraints in the Red py to fully implement a nickel increase mer PP truckloads have become quite
Sea and the Panama Canal. for January, and there is another scarce, as have high-flow and high-
impact copolymer PP railcars. The
Spot PE prices rise at start of the $0.05/lb on the table for this month. top end of the Prime railcar market
month There are also more official and unof- trimmed a tad as producers cut deals
ficial non-market adjustments at hand,
Spot PE trading was good — end of so it is difficult to gauge how much of at tighter margins while they sought
the month railcar deals were scooped an increase larger processors will re- larger orders to line out their reactors
up by midweek and replaced with ally take for January, writes the Plas- for February and March. Meanwhile,
higher asking prices as February be- ticsExchange. January PP contracts followed poly-
gan. Overall domestic availability mer-grade propylene (PGP) $0.03/
has been a little lighter as producers PP resin prices recoup loss from lb higher and producers have nomi-
divert incremental pounds into the previous week nated as much as a four-cent margin-
export market, causing buyers to be- Demand was robust in the PP mar- enhancing increase in February.
come more proactive when seeking ket — the vast majority of well-priced

Fakuma 2024 to focus on efficiency

he tradeshow will take place cently published on the tradeshow’s
Tbetween Oct. 15 to 19 in Frie- website.
drichshafen, Germany
The show’s floor will focus on effi-
From 15 to 19 October 2024, Messe ciency in terms of materials, energy,
Friedrichshafen will once again be and operation.
hosting one of the plastics processing “Fakuma is one of the world’s most
industry’s key trade events, Fakuma. important trade fairs in our agenda,”

This year’s edition will focus on effi- said Michael Wittmann, president of
ciency, according to a statement re- Vienna-based Wittmann Technology,

PLASTICS NEWS 65
February 2024