Roll-over and minor plastic price increase in March
March prices, with most of them still trying to get a handle on realistic price levels in the first half of last week. They were trying to find a price level at which they could sell in March. Due to maintenance and uncommunicated unplanned outages, some polymer grades such as HDPE BM are in short supply at regional level. Yet for most converters this causes no problem due to the weak demand.
It seems that plastics converters have not yet received the expected spring demand, so their overall purchasing activity is rather low. It is clear that demand from plastics converters is not a question of polymer price. Nevertheless, it is likely that some sellers will moderate their price increases in the week ahead, except for those who are already facing availability problems. However, it is feared that when spring demand arrives, there may be a shortage of more and more polymer grades on the market; in addition to HDPE grades, the potential increasing demand may also cause availability problems for some PPHs and PVC. The sharp fall in oil and feed-stock prices over the past week, which in turn has generated expectations of a fall in polymer prices, is working against a recovery in demand. Some plastics converters are waiting for now. They may be right, but we do not know how temporary the price drops in BRENT and NAPHTHA (-8%) are. April price expectations cannot yet be based on the current numbers. Further confusion is caused by the rapid weakening of the dollar, which is unlikely to be sustained as the weakening is primarily due to the closing of currency futures. However, by the end of the week ahead the picture will be clearer and a good approximation of April monomer prices can be made.
The week ahead will also see the final March polymer prices, demand is expected to pick up, converters' stock levels are not high, they need to buy. However, this upturn in demand will not be comparable to previous years, nor will it be generalized across all plastics converters. So there will be those who will continue to wait. As a result, selling pressure and resulting pricing flexibility will be felt in the market, except for those products that are already in limited availability.
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