Firming emerges earlier than expected in Italy’s PE market
by ChemOrbis Editorial Team - content@chemorbis.com
In Italy, sellers voiced hike requests of around €20-30/ton for LDPE and LLDPE for August in spite of stable ethylene contracts and thin trading, which has mostly materialized this week on tight availability.
Buyers in the PE market were already seen pre-buying ahead of the awaited increases for the medium term. The pressure on LDPE and LLDPE prices was more visible compared to HDPE grades, which registered rollovers to smaller increases of €10/ton on deals so far. A converter lamented, “We had to pay €50/ton increases for Middle Eastern LLDPE as we needed material.”
A different buyer purchased some LDPE and HDPE film with €10-20/ton increases and MDPE with rollovers, adding, “We have already built some stocks in July to cover our needs until the end of September due to the voices of increases in the market.”
An agent commented, “The sentiment has turned stronger earlier than expected and we now prefer to hold onto our stocks as we have sold large volumes in July. We applied small hikes on our price lists; however, we could only close a few deals as demand is calm in Italy.”
Some distributors, meanwhile, are offering at stable levels compared to July. A distributor claimed, “We are offering South European material with rollovers as our supplier’s prices were already high in July. Demand is calm these days and our supply is regular.”
A distributor also reported, “We sold some quotas with rollovers to small hikes depending on grade. Plus, we have secured some Iranian material to sell in September at higher prices.”
A reseller from Switzerland reported that they tried to apply increases of €10-20/ton in the first days of August on HDPE grades, but they had to concede to rollovers later on. He noted, “Availability is ok for HDPE and the market will remain weak within the next 10 days. However, prices are likely to increase in September.”
So far this week, PE prices are reported at €1180-1230/ton for LDPE, €1150-1240/ton for LLDPE, €1050-1140/ton for HDPE film & b/m and €1030-1130/ton for HDPE inj., all on FD Italy, 60 days.
Buyers in the PE market were already seen pre-buying ahead of the awaited increases for the medium term. The pressure on LDPE and LLDPE prices was more visible compared to HDPE grades, which registered rollovers to smaller increases of €10/ton on deals so far. A converter lamented, “We had to pay €50/ton increases for Middle Eastern LLDPE as we needed material.”
A different buyer purchased some LDPE and HDPE film with €10-20/ton increases and MDPE with rollovers, adding, “We have already built some stocks in July to cover our needs until the end of September due to the voices of increases in the market.”
An agent commented, “The sentiment has turned stronger earlier than expected and we now prefer to hold onto our stocks as we have sold large volumes in July. We applied small hikes on our price lists; however, we could only close a few deals as demand is calm in Italy.”
Some distributors, meanwhile, are offering at stable levels compared to July. A distributor claimed, “We are offering South European material with rollovers as our supplier’s prices were already high in July. Demand is calm these days and our supply is regular.”
A distributor also reported, “We sold some quotas with rollovers to small hikes depending on grade. Plus, we have secured some Iranian material to sell in September at higher prices.”
A reseller from Switzerland reported that they tried to apply increases of €10-20/ton in the first days of August on HDPE grades, but they had to concede to rollovers later on. He noted, “Availability is ok for HDPE and the market will remain weak within the next 10 days. However, prices are likely to increase in September.”
So far this week, PE prices are reported at €1180-1230/ton for LDPE, €1150-1240/ton for LLDPE, €1050-1140/ton for HDPE film & b/m and €1030-1130/ton for HDPE inj., all on FD Italy, 60 days.
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