European PP, PE sellers aim for hikes beyond Jan C2, C3

In Europe, players are slowly coming back to their desks following Christmas and New Year holidays. Although official announcements for January are yet to be revealed, PP and PE prices are set to increase for the third consecutive month amid higher costs and tight supplies.

January ethylene and propylene contracts were agreed with €65/ton hikes from December. Sellers were already mulling over applying larger increases than that of monomers on their PP and PE offers, supported by low stock levels both on the producers and distributors’ side.

Many producers reported to have sold out for January on the back of strong replenishment activities towards year-end in response to shrinking availability. A distributor said, “Producers will give less than regular quotas. Demand is good particularly due to tight supplies. Import material from the US may not be available until mid-February. We think that increases larger than the monomer hikes will pass on January deals.”

As for PE, players talk about hikes of around €80-100/ton for LLDPE and HDPE grades. Since LDPE supplies are tighter, hike attempts of €120/ton or beyond this level may emerge.

When it comes to PP, sellers are awaited to approach the market with €80-100/ton increases. According to the participants, PP deals can be closed with such hikes considering the fact that PP is shorter when compared to PE. PP buyers reported to have been struggling to find material in the spot market.