Market Report Plastics - December 2015
Information about the market for plastics is being presented by:
bvse - Bundesverband Sekundärrohstoffe und Entsorgung e.V.
1. The market for primary plastics
Each of the two graphs for the prices indexes derived from KI Kunststoffinformation reveals a roller-coaster with respect to the developments in standard plastics and technical plastics throughout 2015. The price index for standard plastics represents the annual low in February 2015 and the annual high in June 2015, which means that the November prices of standard thermoplasts attained the same level as in November 2014. After reaching their annual high in November 2014, technical plastics dropped to their annual low in February 2015, afterwards attained an interim high from May to June and then another annual low in November 2015.
The crude oil listings fell to their lowest level in 11 years on 14 December 2015. The oil prices have now attained the same level as in 2004! On 14 December, the crude oil price was quoted at no more than US-$ 37.20, and it has been listed at no more than an average US-$ 46.40 over the past 100 days.
Standard plastics: In November, standard plastics prices held their own: the average price climbed by 16 €/t, reaching 1290 €/t, cf. Table 1. Only PE plastics are listed higher, and the prices of PP, PS and PVC have remained unchanged. The price adjustments are explained by high demand, which is, in part, accompanied by low supply. The price of packaging PET has almost remained unchanged. PET, which has attained an average 1130 €/t, is quoted at 5 €/t higher than in the previous month.
For a detailed analysis, including details of price indexes for virgin materials and waste plastics as well as precursors, please refer to EUWID Recycling und Entsorgung (EUWID Recycling and Waste Management) or to EUWID Kunststoff (EUWID Plastics), cf. www.euwird.de, and KI-Kunststoffinformation (KI Information on Plastics), cf. www.kiweb.de.
Table 1: EUWID listings for standard plastics over the past five months; prices in €/t.
2. The market for secondary plastics
In November, the standard plastics prices listed by EUWID fell markedly for all quality grades. Secondary plastics are thus following the slump in virgin material prices with a time lag of one month. Technical plastics, too, can currently be purchased at very favourable prices. Technical plastics prices are likely to fall further in January. Warehouse stocks along the entire plastics chain, consisting of collectors, sorting plants, recyclers and traders, are filling up due to restrained exports to the Far East.
Waste plastics: Exports to the Far East are faltering, which has led to great supplies of used plastics piling up in the domestic market. In addition, plastics processing has been reduced during the winter break, which has caused the decline in the demand for waste plastics to continue. Moreover, plastics warehouses at home and abroad have been replete with stocks for quite a while. Or to put it differently: the supply of waste plastics is currently very high. Experts expect demand from the Far East to be low until the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations. There have, in part, been considerable price reductions in the export trade with the Far East.
Recyclates: In the case of these materials, price setting shows very divergent trends. For instance, recyclate prices are likely to stabilise in the next few months because primary goods are, in part, rather scarce. Additional quantities of recyclates will then be used in order to offset shortages in the primary sector. Moreover, it should be noted that recylcate production – and thus, their supply - will be reduced during the winter break. Moreover, it should be borne in mind that the downstream plastic processors’ demand for recyclates seasonally falls during the winter break. In addition, the plastics recylcers’ and plastics processors’ warehouses are currently replete with stocks of both input and output. Short-term demand for processing materials can thus be met immediately.
2.1 EUWID Price Watch
The EUWID Price Watch shows considerable price falls in all plastics, ranging from 10 €/t to an average 50 €/t. In part, only the upper price limit has changed.
PE: Post-industrial PE is quoted at an average 15 €/t to 30 €/t lower. The following prices are listed: HDPE mixed colours 530-630 €/t, HDPE natural 630-800 €/t, LDPE mixed colours 480-600 €/t, LDPE natural 670-800 €/t, LDPE film grade mixed colours (K 49) 180-260 €/t and LDPE-film grade natural (K 40) 500-590 €/t. Post-user PE prices have fallen as follows: LDPE-shrink film natural (E 40) 480-510 €/t, LDPE shrink film mixed colours (E 49) 200-270 €/t, film transparent natural <70 m 350-390 €/t, film transparent mixed colours <70 m 0-110 €/t, LDPE farm film b/w >70 m 30-60 €/t, mixed film (90/10) 200-230 €/t, mixed film (80/20) 160-220 €/t, HDPE hollow bodies mixed colours (C 29) 200-350 €/t, HDPE regrind from crates, colour-separated 650-760 €/t and HDPE regrind from crates, mixed colours 510-620 €/t.
Post-industrial PP prices have fallen by an average 10 €/t to 45 €/t: film grade mixed colours (K 59) 100-200 €/t, film grade natural (K 50) 300-440 €/t, homopolymer mixed colours 450-600 €/t, homopolymer natural 620-770 €/t, copolymer mixed colours 450-600 €/t and copolymer natural 620-770 €/t. Finally, a sufficient supply of post-industrial PP is available again on the market.
PVC: Post-industrial PVC prices have fallen comparatively slightly. The quality grades are listed at an average 5 €/t to 15 €/t lower, namely: PVC_P transparent 320-420 €/t, PVC_P mixed colours 300-400 €/t, PVC_U transparent 450-540 €/t, PVC_U mixed colours 400-510 €/t and tube grade mixed colours 400-510 €/t. The price of PVC window frame regrind have fallen by an average 5 €/t to 10 €/t: window frame regrind white 550-640 €/t, window frame regrind mixed colours 450-550 €/t and window frame regrind single shade white 650-740 €/t. There is still sufficient demand in the building and construction sector, which leads to PVC prices being relatively stable.
Post-industrial PS prices have fallen considerably. Hence, the quality grades are listed at 40 €/t to 50 €/t lower, namely: standard mixed colours 500-620 €/t, standard crystal clear 600-830 €/t, standard white 630-830 €/t, high impact mixed colours 600-680 €/t, high impact black 600-690 €/t and high impact white 700-800 €/t. PS is still in great demand in the packaging and building sectors. However, the price reductions that occurred in the previous month are more than discernible in these segments in particular.
PET: The PET recyclers‘ warehouses are still replete with stocks during the winter months. PET bottle prices have stabilised at a low level. Demand for exports is still low. The slightly increased virgin material prices are also stabilising recyclate prices. The prices listed by EUWID for transparent beverage bottle PET have fallen by an average 3 €/t. The listings for coloured PET have held their own compared to the previous month. The quality of the beverage bottles offered is still the main price-determining factor. A large number of different quality grades are being offered in the domestic and foreign markets, each of which should be assessed individually.
2.2 plasticker price index
The plasticker internet platform publishes quotes on an hourly basis. The present market report indicates the final monthly prices. It is only possible to represent the preliminary prices for December 2015. These listings thus merely reflect an interim situation that does not become definitive until January 2015. Plasticker offers the quality grades regrind and regranulates both as virgin materials and as secondary materials. The term 'bale goods' refers to waste plastics only.
Standard plastics
In November, the average standard plastics price in plasticker was listed at 595 €/t and had thus almost remained unchanged. Prices thus remained stable compared to the previous month. There are only slight price changes in the individual quality grades, with the exception of PET regrind. The PET regrind price has risen by 100 €/t. Thus, price rises range from 10 €/t to 100 €/t and price falls from 20 €/t to 40 €/t. In November, the demand for standard plastics was higher than in the previous month.
The first preview of the December quotes, which cannot be definitively reported until the beginning of January, shows the probable average price to be 582 €/t. Thus, the average price listed by the plasticker internet platform on 11 December 2015 was 13 €/t lower than the previous month’s. The demand for standard plastics listed in December is amazingly high for this month.
Table 2: Standard plastics price according to plasticker; listed in €/t..
*: Supply figure 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: preview (may be amended by additional quotes)
Technical plastics
In November, the average price of technical plastics in plasticker was listed at 1255 €/t, i.e. 21 €/t lower than in the previous month. Or to put it differently: technical plastics prices have fallen by increments from August 2015 (1310 €/t) to December 2015 (1231 €/t). The price changes in the individual quality grades differ tremendously: price falls range from 20 €/t to 120 €/t and price rises from 10 €/t to 90 €/t. The November demand for technical plastics was satisfactory.
The first preview of the December quotes, which cannot be definitively reported until the beginning of January, shows that prices continue to fall further, with an average price of 1231 €/t. Over a period of five years, prices have bottomed out in December for: PBT regrind with 490 €/t, PA 6 regranulates with 1720 €/t and PA 6.6 regranulates with 1730 €/t. By 13 December 2015, the plasticker internet platform showed am amazingly buoyant demand for technical plastics for this month.
Table 3: Technical plastics price according to plasticker; listed in €/t
5: equivalent to the grade "regranulates, black". 6 forecast (likely to 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 without 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.
