Europe’s R-PET markets see mixed trends in H1 Oct

In Italy and Northwest Europe, R-PET markets opened October with rollovers to up and down variations, depending on the product, supplier and origin. Demand has been patchy across various application fields, which coupled with softening in the virgin PET markets led to modest fluctuations within the price ranges.

Bale prices drop further in Italy

Post-consumer bottle bale prices saw another round of reductions in Italy as quantities increased compared to the previous month. The largest drops were seen on Clear and Light blue bales with up to three-digit decreases, while losses in Mixed-colours bales were limited. However, price cuts on both Clear and Light blue Flakes prices have been smaller than bale reductions so far.

Whilst price negotiations for the October Flakes are still ongoing, the monthly price ranges are expected to see some decreases compared to September, especially on the high ends of the ranges.

The stance of demand remained patchy as large converters in the bottling industry continued to secure regular Flakes volumes, while buyers in the thermoforming sector preferred to remain cautious amidst subdued end-product businesses and elevated prices compared to virgin PET. Both a buyer and a recycler, meanwhile, have reported better buying interest for Light blue grade products this month.

Flakes markets in Northwest Europe, meanwhile, were mostly stable compared to the previous month, although some small up and down variations were also seen in some cases, within the current range. The price gap in the Clear grade Flakes market between Italy and Northwest Europe remained rather wide, with Italy still preserving some positions on the high end of the range at around €1400/ton FD.

Softening in virgin PET to put pressure on R-PET

As Europe’s virgin PET market entered the second month of reductions, with average prices dropping below the €1100/ton FD threshold, the gap between virgin PET and Flakes prices has widened further recently. This, according to some players, may lead to renewed substitution activities in the near term.

R-PET Pellets market holds stable

In the R-PET Pellets market, meanwhile, stability continued to prevail in October, although small price drops also surfaced in a few cases after several months of unchanged prices.

Expectations of an increase in demand for the last quarter of the year have not been realized so far. Even though buying interest for Pellets has been sturdy during the first half of 2024, demand remained mostly stable after the summer period and cautiousness seems to prevail among buyers, who are not in a rush to purchase or build stocks. Hence, the impact of the approaching mandates of the SUP Directive that will come into force in January 2025 has been limited so far as the lack of details related to its application and possible penalties creates uncertainty in the market.