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.
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“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]
