PIE Polymer Price Reports – February 2023

PIE Polymer Price Reports-January 2023

Monthly report published by Plastics Information Europe:

• Resin prices come under renewed pressure with styrene reduction in March
• Cheaper imports pressure glass fibre

Demand for ortho resins in February was again considerably weaker than usual for the time of year. Accordingly, producers’ selling prices came under pressure, with the decline steepest at the upper end of the range. As the styrene reference contract was fixed only slightly higher, it did little to break the downward momentum.

Because European plants were operated below capacity due to high energy costs, their output alone could not meet demand entirely, and imports took up the slack. Inventory refilling and more dynamic ordering by some customer segments, such as aviation, bolstered demand somewhat. For the plastics industry in general, however, a substantial improvement in offtake is not to be expected before the start of the second half of the year. Composites are no exception.

Prices for most glass-fibre-reinforced products covered in this report remain under pressure from Asian competition. In the medium term, this could influence European pricing, though probably not in March. In February, customers for standard strand mats could find reasonably priced material on the spot market.

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