Different pricing policies emerge in Europe’s PS, ABS markets in Dec

After the stable to slightly firmer trend seen in November, styrenics markets are seeing small up and down variations in December. Regional producers, indeed, announced divergent pricing policies after the styrene contract was agreed €7/ton lower following the €49/ton decline in benzene contracts. As for ABS, the butadiene contract settled €50/ton down, while the ACN settlement indicated a tiny increase, leading to a small drop in raw materials.

According to some suppliers, meanwhile, unsupportive market conditions together with year-end lull and the decline in styrene contracts may push some PS and ABS suppliers to trim their initial offers in the coming days.

Local suppliers defy SM drop on margin recovery targets

Despite the small drop in styrene contracts, most suppliers opened December with small hikes of €10/ton or rollovers to protect or even improve their margins. A regional producer, however, opted for €30/ton drops citing the benzene contract decline, slow demand, and limited number of working days amid the Christmas break.

Considering the lack of support from market conditions, players expect small hikes to be revised down later in the month. Rollovers to drops may pass on deals due to suppliers’ need to protect profitability on one side and the pressure stemming from the stance of demand on the other side.

Previous pre-buying, shortness of the month weigh on Dec sales

The absence of supply limitations within the bloc, coupled with poor end-product business, kept buyers cautious about fresh purchases in early December. On top of this, the shortness of the month in terms of working days and previous pre-buying activities have been other factors weighing on sales as many PS and ABS converters referred to be covered for the month. Hence, purchasing activities were slow in the first week of the month while sellers mostly excluded the possibility of an improvement in demand in the days ahead even in case of price reductions.

Nevertheless, it is not excluded that some sellers, particularly in the distribution channel, may try to boost sales by trimming their prices to clear their warehouses before the year’s end.

Early voices for Q1 2025 start to emerge

Players think that margin recovery may be a priority in Q1 2025 in the region, after the poor results seen in 2024. Although sellers tend to start the new year with firmer prices, several players believe that it will be difficult to see hikes in January as it will be a short month. Yet, eyes remain on costs and the state of demand, with some sellers anticipating potentially higher buying interest as converters may need to purchase after limiting or skipping purchases in late 2024.