Plasticizers - Europe December 2018

In the plasticizers market, December deals have been mostly closed as trading activities will be concluded at the end of this week given Christmas holidays. Prices emerged with increases at the beginning of December and the trend remained mostly in line with the initial offers during the month. Supply, meanwhile, was limited for DINP given some outages still in force in the region.

The overall price ranges for December are quoted at €1360-1550/ton for DINP and DIDP and at €1300-1400/ton for DOTP FD, 60 days.

A South European producer affirmed that he settled his deals at firmer prices in line with his initial hike requests. The seller commented, “Demand is weak this month as a few buyers preferred to lower their stocks given the year-end lull. Plus, the possibility of reductions on plasticizers prices has emerged for January. We think that the outlook is still uncertain and it will depend on demand.” Another seller affirmed that he sold material only to big-scaled costumers this month given his limited supply. The seller has also reported that demand is stronger in Northwest Europe compared to South Europe. As for the logistics issues stemmed by River Rhine, players reported that water levels are back to normality nowadays, although a few participants think that there was some speculation on it.

On the buyers’ side, converters are concluding their deals within the end of this week ahead of the approaching Christmas holidays. Most converters have wrapped their deals up at higher prices compared to November. A buyer stated, “DOTP prices were lower than DINP given tight supply of the last product; therefore, we decided to switch from DINP to DOTP. Prices are in general quite high, in line with the December initial hike attempts.”

In the import market, prices were reported mostly in line with the local market, with Korean DOPT traded at €1310-1350/ton and Taiwanese DOTP dealt at €1320-1350/ton, both on DDP basis, 60 days. Meanwhile, a buyer received an offer for US DOTP at €1250/ton, on DDP basis, 60 days.

As for January, some players expect plasticizers prices to witness a stabilization or even small reductions. However, the outlook is still uncertain as the market trend will mainly depend on the stance of demand, which may remain weak, as well as on the outcome of monomer contracts at the end of the month. According to data from ChemOrbis Price Wizard, the weekly average of spot propylene prices hit its lowest level seen since December 2017.