West European PS falls from initial levels in Turkey

12-Feb-10

Turkish players reported deal conclusion for West European origin PS this week, revealing a rollover from the January prices, despite a €30-50/ton raise in initial February offers. As per Chemorbis, the price hikes for February were in line with announcements from Europe where producers were asking for higher prices to restore their margins after the styrene contracts settled lower by around €13/ton. Apart from poor margins, PS producers were supported by reports of tight supplies in the region. February offers came at €1145-1200/ton for GPPS and at €1200-1250/ton for HIPS CIF Turkey, cash basis last week. January levels had been raised from December to a range of €1100-1150/ton for GPPS and €1150-1200/ton for HIPS with the same terms. This week's done deals reveal prices are within the January ranges. A distributor who has sold out his locally held GPPS stocks reported purchasing European GPPS this week at €1100/ton CIF Turkey, cash. He commented that he purchased 400 tons and was unable to get extra allocation from the supplier. A trader reported selling GPPS at €1130-1135/ton and HIPS at €1180-1185/ton CIF Turkey, cash. He blamed the slow demand for the fact that he had to lower his prices by €15-20/ton this week. He commented that in general European prices came down this week. The decision to lower prices to Turkey may reflect the fact that European PS buyers are holding off purchases for the time being in order to reduce the amount of increase they have to pay for the month. Players in Italy comment that some done deals are concluded with rollovers as converters are reluctant to purchase at the current offers. Therefore, despite generally tight supplies in Europe, current demand conditions are weak.