Resin buyers faced another round of pricing pressure in October after a 5-cent-per-pound September polyethylene increase took hold despite soft domestic demand and growing inventories. Dow and NOVA have since announced additional 7-cent-per-pound increases for October.
PE availability remains healthy and spot ethylene held steady at 23 cents per pound. With little change in market fundamentals since September, buyers have reason to challenge the full increase, according to ResinSmart.
Polypropylene remained favorable for buyers, with September contracts settling 2 cents per pound lower and no October increases proposed. However, an extended outage at LyondellBasell's Lake Charles facility and additional downtime expected in November could affect supply later in the quarter.
Higher benzene contract prices gave producers a stronger cost argument for polystyrene and nylon increases. The October benzene contract settled at $5.27 per gallon, up 70 cents from September, though spot benzene eased from its highs. ResinSmart is tracking potential PS increases of 9 to 10 cents per pound and nylon increases of 14 to 15 cents per pound.
PVC's proposed September increase failed, PET pricing was steady, and neither ABS nor polycarbonate had an October increase announced.
