The decline in the May styrene contract price has sent bearish signals for polystyrene prices, market sources said this week.
The May styrene contract price was fully settled at Eur1,285/mt ($1,539/mt), down Eur40/mt on the month.
Following the announcement, PS producer Ineos Styrolution said it would reduce GPPS prices in May by Eur30/mt.
Sources said Wednesday they expected both the contract and spot prices to fall on a monthly basis, in light of lower feedstock costs despite demand that is expected to be strong.
“I expect European producers’ offers will reflect the styrene monomer decrease in order to push sales a bit since demand has been quite unsatisfactory in April,” a trader source said.
“Demand should be very strong for us going into May and June,” according to a converter source. Converter stock levels were heard low in April as buyers kept inventories low in anticipation of lower prices in May.
But a second converter source said there were several public holidays in May, which typically leads to a slowing of downstream operations. This would reduce the number of delivery days, which could weigh on demand.
S&P Global Platts assessed the May GPPS net contract price at Eur1,450/mt FD NWE Wednesday, down Eur30/mt on the week and on the month.
–Yuriko Kato, [email protected]
–Edited by Jeremy Lovell, [email protected]
