Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Prices Show Ambiguous Nature in the Global Market

Hamburg, Germany: Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) Bottle Prices in Asian and European countries differ, owing to the changing demand fundamentals alongside uncertainty in the Feedstock market. In China, Feedstock Mono-Ethylene Glycol (MEG) and Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) prices continue to drop by 5-7% as crude stays on the downtrend, prompting suppliers to revise their offers downwards. In contrast, despite buyers’ resistance in European countries, most sellers have not revised their proposals this week to cope with high monomer costs.

Meanwhile, Chinese domestic prices also fell for the fourth week as demand stayed weak and costs fell. Traders cut FOB offers further during the week, indicating falling paraxylene and lowering feed Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) and Mono-Ethylene Glycol (MEG) prices. Few suppliers from the local market also stated they are still monitoring local demand, but downstream production is at reduced levels due to the slower demand recovery. Meanwhile, in South Korea, Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) producers are waiting for further price reductions due to falling costs. At the same time, Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) prices also witnessed week-over-week decreases in Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia, supported by the dull market outlook as buyers are sticking to the sidelines and waiting for additional price cuts.

In addition, the market value for Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) remained primarily firm in European countries on the heels of the massive gains in Paraxylene prices. It is hard to say what may happen in the following weeks, while the import market has caught more interest recently. In the meantime, some European producers decided to reduce their Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) output owing to high production costs and slower demand in the regional market.

As Per ChemAnalyst Prediction, “The price for Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) is still facing a high level of uncertainty in the market amidst the changing paraxylene value and concerns related to calmer than expected demand considering the high season. Meanwhile, the outlook for August is extremely cloudy, although the few market players believe that there might not be considerable changes in prices next month.”