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The trajectory for domestic prices of all four commodity resins is downward, as global feedstock costs have been dropping, in some cases signifcantly, and North American resin suppliers are pricing themselves out of world markets. These are the observations of purchasing consultants at Resin Technology, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas (resinpros.com) and Michael Greenberg, CEO of The Plastics Exchange, Chicago (theplasticsexchange.com) PE PRICES FLAT-TO-DOWN Polyethylene prices were fat in October and were expected to remain fat through year's end. "There are no legitimate price increases pending, and chances for price increases in the balance of 2014 and early 2015 are tremendously remote," said Mike Burns, RTi's v.p. for PE. "With spot ethylene dropping in relative free-fall, domestic processors are looking for a share of the savings. Perhaps the elusive price decrease might fnally come through in November. The last decrease was 2¢/lb back in November 2012. There have since been 21¢/lb of increases, the most recent of which was 3¢ in September," reported Greenberg as October came to a close. The dynamics of the PE market were quickly changed by the unexpected drop in oil and naphtha prices, according to Burns. "Latin America turned to Korea to meet resin needs at a signifcantly lower price. Regardless of tight resin supplies, North American PE suppliers will need to address the global price that is set by the price of oil and make downward adjustments." Burns also noted that distributors have been selling of inventory at reduced or zero margins and that buyers could expect lower prices from such inventory liquida- tion, not because prime resin suppliers are ofering lower prices as yet. He foresaw two market changes that will push resin makers Commodity Resin Prices Heading Down Falling global feedstock costs and demand destruction concerns are forcing prices downward. By Lilli Manolis Sherman Senior Editor Market Prices Effective Mid-November 2014 Resin Grade ¢/lb POLYETHYLENE (railcar) LDPE, LINER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101-102 LLDPE BUTENE, FILM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87-89 NYMEX 'FINANCIAL' FUTURES . . . . . . . . . . . . 70.50 HDPE, G-P INJECTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100-102 HDPE, BLOW MOLDING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95-97 NYMEX 'FINANCIAL' FUTURES . . . . . . . . . . . . 69.25 HDPE, HMW FILM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108-110 POLYPROPYLENE (railcar) G-P HOMOPOLYMER, INJECTION . . . . . . . . . . . 98-100 NYMEX 'FINANCIAL' FUTURES . . . . . . . . . . . . 80.25 IMPACT COPOLYMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100-102 POLYST YRENE (railcar) G-P CRYSTAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105-107 HIPS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112-114 PVC RESIN (railcar) G-P HOMOPOLYMER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80-82 PIPE GR ADE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79-81 to respond to today's market conditions: an escalation of imported fnished goods such as stretch flm and can liners; and the build-up of supplier inventories outpacing demand. PP PRICES UP BUT NOT FOR LONG Polypropylene prices moved up 4¢/lb in October in step with the increase in propylene monomer contract prices, which reached a yearly high of 76.5¢/lb, according to Scott Newell, RTi's director of client services for PP. Driving monomer's upward movement were planned and unplanned shutdowns that resulted in tight supplies. With oil prices dropping by nearly $30/bbl since the July peak of over $70, PP prices also have been dropping across the globe— with the notable exception of U.S. domestic prices, which have actually risen. But things were turning around by end of October: Polyethylene Price Trends HDPE Injection SEPT OCT 3¢/lb HDPE Blow Molding SEPT OCT HDPE HMW SEPT OCT 3¢/lb LDPE SEPT OCT LLDPE Butene SEPT OCT 3¢/lb MATERIALS QUESTIONS? Find and compare materials data for different resins, grades, or suppliers at Plastic Technology's Plaspec Global materials database, ptonline.com/plaspec. 3¢/lb 3¢/lb 78 DECEMBER 2014 Plastics Technology PTonline.com YO U R B U S I N E S S Resin Pricing Analy sis