Market Report Plastics - February 2014
Information about the market for plastics is being presented by:
bvse - Bundesverband Sekundärrohstoffe und Entsorgung e.V.
1. The market for primary plastics
The previews and estimates published by the economic institutes in respect to business developments in 2014 continue to be favourable all across Germany and Europe. This is substantiated by the ifo Business Climate Index for Germany’s trade and industry in particular, cf. http://www.cesifo-group.de. In February the ifo Business Climate Index has continued to rise. Companies are assessing the current business situation much more favourably than in the previous month. Expectations concerning further business developments have been taken down a peg or two, but they continue to be optimistic.
The business climate for the processing industry has improved for the fourth time in a row. Companies are much more satisfied with their current business situation. Expectations for future business developments have been weakening slightly. Even though the export prospects of industrial companies have been significantly deteriorating, they have remained optimistic for the most part. The German economy is asserting itself in a changeable global business climate.
Standard plastics: The EUWID price listings for standard plastics stabilised in January. The price rises are explained by the climbing precursor prices. In January 2014 the prices of standard plastics exceeded those listed in the previous month by an average 20 €/t. EUWID quoted A and C PET at 1160 €/t to 1260 €/t in January. According to EUWID, the PET listings thus exceeded those for the previous month by 15 €/t on average. According to the KI Kunststoffinformation online portal, the prices for packaging PET exceeded those listed by EUWID by 150 €/t. The KI Kunststoffinformation prices held their own compared to December. The mild winter and Germany’s favourable consumption climate led to a slight rise in the demand for plastics compared to the previous month. The demand for PVC from the building industry, which has remained unchanged this winter, led to a resurgence in the PVC listings in January.
Table 1: Developments in standard plastics prices as published by EUWID over the past four months; prices quoted in €/t.
2. The market for secondary plastics
Since the tight Green Fence restrictions were reversed, the volume of plastics exports from Europe towards the Far East has continued to expand. For the time being, the rising demand for exports is being met by the plastics stocks that have been built up for this purpose.
The EUWID magazine for January 2014 only shows a relatively marginal price change relative to December 2013. Hence, the EUWID Price Watch for January ultimately indicates stabilising prices compared to the previous month. According to the plasticker internet platform, the January 2014 prices fell by an average 27 €/t relative to December 2013. The price adjustments listed by plasticker were thus more massive than those indicated by EUWID. Nevertheless, both price indices highlight more or less the same trend. In total, these price adjustments can be assessed as being minimal, thus indicating price stabilisation for January 2014.
2.1 EUWID Price Watch
The EUWID Price Watch is not yet published at regular intervals, which is why a detailed report on the changes that occurred in January 2014 relative to December 2013 is provided at this point. The price slides in PVC amount to 10 €/t to 25 €/t on average. The PS prices, for their part, fell by an average 10 €/t. According to the EUWID Price Watch for used plastics published in January 2014, standard plastics held their own compared to the listings for December 2013. The other quotes remained almost unchanged.
The PE price nearly held its own. In total, there is only one change discernible, which led to widening the price margin by 10 €/t. In the case of post-user PE, thin mixed-coloured film rose by 5 €/t, which means that film transparent mixed colours < 70 µm was quoted at 50 – 170 €/t. The listings for post-industrial PP have remained unchanged compared to the previous month.
Post-industrial PS changed by +/- 10 €/t in the lower price margin. The following prices were thus listed in January: standard mixed colours 540 – 680 €/t, standard crystal clear 640 – 830 €/t, standard white 640 – 830 €/t, high impact mixed colours 630 – 680 €/t, high impact black 630 – 680 €/t and high impact white 720 – 860 €/t. PS recyclers are still looking for more input material. PS regrind and PS regranulates continue to be in great demand.
PVC: Nearly all of the PVC quality grades listed in the EUWID Price Watch show price adjustments. The price slides in post-industrial PVC amount to 10 €/t to 15 €/t on average. The following prices were quoted in January: PVC_P transparent 400 – 480 €/t, PVC_P mixed colours 310 – 440 €/t, PVC_U transparent 480 – 620 €/t, PVC_U mixed colours 480 – 600 €/t and tube grade mixed colours 480 – 600 €/t. The price falls in PVC window frame regrind amount to an average 18 €/t. The following prices were quoted in January: window frame regrind white 610 – 730 €/t, window frame regrind mixed colours 500 - 600 €/t and window frame regrind single-shade white 720 - 820 €/t. The mild winter has led to a considerable mitigation of the seasonal decline in demand that usually occurs.
The PET market: PET beverage bottles were still in sufficient supply in December. The consumption of PET beverage bottles is currently satisfactory. In addition, recyclers can purchase beverage bottles in neighbouring countries. The quotes for PET beverage bottles reached their lowest level to date in December 2013. In January 2014 the price of PET transparent rose by an average 5 €/t relative to December 2013. Coloured PET held its own compared to the previous month. The following new prices are thus quoted: PET transparent 245 – 285 €/t and PET coloured 55 – 90 €/t.
2.2 plasticker price index
The plasticker internet platform publishes quotes on an hourly basis. However, the present market report shows the final monthly prices. The preliminary quotes previously accumulated are only represented during the reporting month in question, in this case for February 2014 - these quotes merely reflect an interim situation that does not become definitive until the following month.
Standard plastics
In January standard plastics prices fell by an average 27 €/t compared to the previous month. While the listings for HDPE, LDPE and PP rose slightly, those for PS, PVC and PET fell. Price rises ranged from 10 €/t to 30 €/t and price falls from 10 €/t to 60 €/t. In January demand slightly improved compared to December. According to plasticker the following January quotes changed by more than +/- 40 €/t relative to the previous month: PS-regranulates - 60 €/t and PET regrind mixed colours - 60 €/t.
The first preview of the 2014 February quotes, which cannot be finally reported until the beginning of March 2014, shows a prospective average price of 596 €/t. Hence, the plasticker internet platform indicated a slight price rise in standard plastics on 13 February 2014. To date, standard plastics have been in considerable demand in February.
Table 2: Prices of standard plastics in plasticker, quoted in €/t
*: Supply figures too low to attain statistical significance; 1: equivalent to the grade “post-industrial, mixed colours”; 2: equivalent to K49; 3: equivalent to K59; 4: equivalent to “standard, mixed colours”; 5: equivalent to the grade “regranulates, black”, 6: forecast (may be amended by additional quotes)
Technical plastics
In January 2014 technical plastics rose by 29 €/t relative to the previous month. The majority of the price rises were between 10 €/t and 90 €/t. However, POM regranulates showed a price rise of 290 €/t! According to plasticker the following prices changed by more than +/- 70 €/t in January: PC regrind – 90 €/t, PC regranulates + 80 €/t, PBT regranulates + 90 €/t and POM regranulates + 290 €/t. In January the demand for technical plastics was equivalent to that for the previous month.
The first preview of the 2014 February quotes, which cannot be finally reported until the beginning of March 2014, shows an average price of 1407 €/t. Hence, the February listings published by the plasticker internet platform for technical plastics on 14 January 2014 have fallen by 35 €/t. To date, there has been restrained demand for technical plastics in February 2014.
Table 3: Prices of technical plastics in plasticker, quoted in €/t
5: equivalent to the grade "regranulates, black". 6 forecast (may be amended by additional quotes)
No guarantee for any of the prices. All EUWID prices are quoted ex works. As a rule, the prices quoted refer to quantities in excess of 20 tons. The monthly quotes for secondary plastics, which are updated on an hourly basis, can be calculated using the price lists that are derived from the quotations published in the raw material exchange plasticker. The prices listed in this index are quoted with reservation - as the majority of the quotes submitted are not necessarily equivalent to the sales prices. Furthermore, plasticker does not distinguish between the following grades: transparent, mixed colours or colour-separated. Therefore, the information provided by plasticker may indicate different market behaviour than the prices quoted by EUWID. Plasticker offers the quality grades regrind and regranulates in the form of both virgin materials and secondary materials.
