Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) producers in Europe are unlikely to exportPET from Europe to USA despite a very short PET market in USA, as per Platts. The strong euro against the dollar, complicated delivery logistics and export costs altogether made sending PET from Europe to the US unattractive. Additionally, European demand for PET remains strong.
Tightness in the US PET market has been caused by a severe shortage of purified terephthalic acid (PTA). PTA supplies in the US became even shorter this week after BP halved its US PTA allocations to 25% from 50% effective Wednesday, because its Cooper River PTA plant in South Carolina failed to restart from scheduled maintenance in April. The delayed restart compounded BP's supply problems as its 1 mln Decatur, Alabama, PTA plant was shut unexpectedly after a tornado ripped through the southern US state on April 27.
Wellman declared force majeure on PET deliveries out of its 400,000 tpa plant in Pearl River, Mississippi, putting the allocation at 60% for all customers. On Thursday, AlphaPET announced it had reduced its PET allocation to 15% from 35%.
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