While the month saw much less pressure on polymer prices from upstream costs, producers wasted no time to take advantage of tight supply and improving demand conditions to force through higher prices and boost their profit margins.

Production outages at cracker and polymer plants once again severely curtailed material availability last month.

Polypropylene supply was under most strain as Total’s declaration of force majeure at the Feluy plant in Belgium added to an already tight market. PP prices responded by rising €50/tonne.

L/LDPE availability is also very tight and notations increased by €50/tonne. High-density supply was in better balance leading to a €20-30/tonne price rise. PVC producers managed a much sought after margin improvement with prices up by €40/tonne. Polystyrene and PET prices also moved much higher than feedstock costs.