The facts behind the rises:Â
- Supply/demand has become very tight for most polymers in Europe over the past 6 weeks
- Order books for most polymer producers have become full at the start of the month as customers look to secure their volumes causing additional supply issues
- European prices remain below Asia and Americas. This has resulted in a significant reduction in imports, down 30% in 2015 for some grades. This is contributing to the tight supply position in Europe. Prices in Asia and MEAF are increasing and even after higher than C2 price increases in Europe in March and April it is expected that European prices will remain below other regions
- European currency performance against the US$, for both EUR and Pound Sterling have also changed significantly over the past few months, causing other territory pricing pressures.
In summary, polymer availability is a particular and real issue and rising pricing is unavoidable and in the short term will be in the region of Euro 180/200 hikes.Â