Polyethylene terephthalate prices in Northwest Europe rose to a five- month high this week as a weak euro slashed imports even as appetite for the product continued to improve, market sources said this week.
The European PET spot price was assessed at Eur1,000/mt FD NWE Wednesday, up Eur20 on the week. This was a near five-month high, with prices last assessed higher November 2. The euro was at $1.0994 on Thursday, down steeply from 1.2483 at the start of December.
Consumers across Europe are reported to have continued with high procurements for the summer months even as the latest statistics show a sharp decline in imports. EU January PET imports dropped 26% month on month to 60,862 mt, the latest Eurostat data showed. On a year-on-year basis, EU imports fell 34%. Imports from Egypt, one of the largest exporters to the EU in 2014, fell 41% month on month to 10,517 mt, data showed.
In contrast, EU PET imports in December rose 74% the month to 82,698 mt.
“May to September is considered the peak season for PET demand in Europe. As PET is usually procured three months before it is actually processed into downstream products, demand has been strong since the start of this year but imports have not been keeping pace with it,” a UK-based recycled PET producer sad.
Festivals usually give rise to sporadic and urgent PET requirements and upcoming Easter holidays have underpinned demand for the product since January, another trader said.
As a result of the tight supply, major European producers were heard curtailing exports and re-directing their PET cargoes to within Europe in March.
JBF Industries, which runs a 460,000 mt/year PET plant at Geel in Belgium, was heard offering 36,000 mt of the product to European buyers in March, much higher than its monthly average.
The EU has a nameplate PET capacity of about 9 million mt/year. It exports an average of 10,000 mt/month of PET and imports 50,000-80,000 mt.
– Platts.com
