European general polystyrene August contract prices were under pressure in Europe as cheaper imports are making in-roads into the region, market sources said Tuesday.
One Eastern European producer said that it was seeing more imports, not only from Egypt’s E Styrenics, but also from Russia, where Nizhnekamskneftekhim had recently started production from its new line.
As a result, polystyrene deals were reported trading as low as Eur1,450/mt FD for general purpose PS, the producer said. “Demand and price are down due to [this import] pressure,” the producer said.
One Northern European converter said it was surprised at the sub-Eur1,500/mt trading bracket in the market.
The buyer said that a Europe of two halves “might be the case.”
“In Italy, big price reductions are due to [cheaper] imports from E Styrenics,” the buyer added.
August contracts were assessed by Platts at 1,580/mt FD NWE, down Eur10/mt last week from the July contract of Eur1,590/mt.
A Russian source said that cheaper supplies could have already made their way into Northwest Europe, following polystyrene capacity expansions this year.
Nizhnekamskneftekhim began selling its polystyrene production out of Tatarstan to converters in the Northwest European spot market after adding new capacity, sources said in late June.
The company began production out of its new 50,000 mt/year line, adding to its 200,000 mt/year PS plant in Tatarstan, in January.
“They started up an extra line and now they have an extra line of GPPS, and that’s why they could sell into Europe,” another Russian producer source said Tuesday.
At the time in June, one PS converter in Germany reported receiving offers for general purpose grade product at around Eur1,450-1,460/mt FD Germany — a discount of some Eur40-45/mt to production in NWE.
In July, a Germany-based polystyrene converter Jackon Insulation said it agreed to buy from E Styrenics following a successful test.
The company confirmed buying material at Eur1,440/mt DDP Germany, well below the July FD Germany GPPS July contract price assessed by Platts at Eur1,590/mt FD NWE.
As to whether it would continue to buy more polystyrene from E Styrenics, the large buyer said last week: “We’ll decide when we test the different qualities between two, and five trucks might be possible if the material is very good.”
– Platts.com
