US October polystyrene prices roll over
David Love
16-Oct-2015
HOUSTON (ICIS)–US polystyrene (PS) contract prices have rolled over from September to October, according to market participants on Friday.
ICIS PS prices for general purpose PS (GPPS) are 88-92 cents/lb ($1,940-2,028/tonne), while high impact PS (HIPS) prices are 96-100 cents/lb.
PS prices rolled over in October because, after the large drop on prices in September, market participants believed that prices had hit the bottom.
After falling by 9 cents/lb in September, many thought that PS prices were near the bottom and would stabilise in October – and remain little changed for the balance of the year. The large fall in prices last month was on the back of the September benzene contract, which fell by 79 cents to settle at $2.01/gal.
The October benzene contract rose by 10 cents early this month to settle at $2.11/gal, and most market participants expected October PS prices to either roll over or increase slightly as a result.
One producer said it had rolled prices over based on its view of the market and raw material price movement. The other two US PS producers are believed to have separately rolled September prices over into October, according to market participants. A PS producer in Mexico said that a price rollover seems to be the scenario for October.
Demand in the fourth quarter is typically softer than other quarters, but October has been a good month, sources say. Supply is also said to be snug.
A planned turnaround at an undisclosed location is coming to an end, but is taking longer to come back up, a market source said. A separate planned outage at Americas Styrenics 85,000 tonnes/year plant at Ironton (Hanging Rock), Ohio, continues, and is expected to be down through October.
US producers of PS include Americas Styrenics, Styrolution and Total Petrochemicals.
PS
GPPS, HIPS contract prices DEL US Bulk, in
cents/lb
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