Polystyrene sellers in Europe approach regional markets with rollovers for November

Polystyrene sellers in Europe approached the regional markets with rollovers for November this week in spite of €30/ton lower styrene contract settlements, as reported on www.ChemOrbis.com. Suppliers, who had wrapped up their sales with hefty decreases of up to €150/ton in the previous month, aim to preserve their already eroded margins blaming supply constraints across the region. A West European producer started to officially seek rollovers for the new month after closing last month with €140/ton price reductions. “We are trying to maintain our margins and believe that prices will not change during the month as we already received good orders for November,” a producer source stated. Supply constraints experienced by converters in October will persist in November as overall supply from European producers remains tight, according to the source. “In addition to the shutdown at our plant in France, we heard that a Central and a South European producer are having short supplies too,” he continued. An agent of a West European source in Turkey also reported not having any allocation for November at the present given reduced supply. “If we were able to offer material, our prices would most probably be rolled over month over month,” the source opined. “We placed a €10/ton lower bid to our West European supplier after receiving rollovers for GPPS but we are yet to receive a confirmation. We have sufficient inventories at the moment,” a buyer in Italy said. In Germany, a packaging converter reported already purchasing some Central European PS cargos with rollovers from October. “Our supplier has limited volumes particularly for GPPS,” he reported. A trader in Italy also opined that supply is particularly short for GPPS. Demand will be slowing down ahead of Christmas and the 8th December Festivity. Therefore, the last of the PS sales of the year 2015 will be completed mainly during November. A converter in Italy complained, “Imports PS cargos are limited and prices that are available from distributors are too high.” Another buyer reported receiving rollovers for various European origins, adding that a supplier was even mulling over applying slight hikes blaming reduced availability in the market. “Supply constraints will persist in November as our Central European supplier claimed to have limited stocks for November. We will purchase some cargoes in accordance to our needs. We are planning to make some import purchases from Asia to be covered until February. For December, the market outlook is likely to be steady in most cases while PS prices could recover starting from next year,” the buyer mentioned. In France, meanwhile, a disposables manufacturer will negotiate with his supplier towards the end of the month, according to ChemOrbis. “Producers could concede to slight discounts during the month if PS demand performs weakly considering the lower styrene settlement. We will purchase some volumes this month but will keep our stocks low for December given the year end and coming up Christmas holidays,” he noted.