newproject_1_originalSellers of polyethylene (PE) in the European market want to redistribute the volume of material in May, as demand again decreases, ICIS informed several buyers on Wednesday.

“They (producers) are trying to redistribute the amount of material,” – said one major buyer.

“Every week we see a new picture,” said another buyer. “Several manufacturers called me and asked why I did not take all my volumes.”

“Customers stopped buying,” – confirmed one of the manufacturers.

According to several sources, May started quite well, but then the situation on the market became the same as in April: the purchases became small.

Demand in the first quarter of 2017 was very high, as buyers are believed to have made purchases in the market to protect themselves against potential shortages during a series of planned stops for the prevention of both cracking plants and polymer plants. These stops are now coming to an end, and there were no big manufacturing problems that the customers were afraid of, so the processors stopped using the stock of material for their production.

Expectations for a decline in the contract price of ethylene in June also lead to a similar price trend in the PE market, so buyers hesitate before making purchases, as they expect prices to be lower in June.

Monthly contract prices are still being discussed.

According to the Price Review of ICIS-MRC, in Russia the last working week was short due to the continuation of the May holidays (the 8th and 9th May were the days off). There was a small spike in consumer activity in the PE market, but this was largely due to long holidays. Last week, the Russian contract prices for low-pressure Russian polyethylene (HDPE) were finally agreed upon. Some manufacturers prolonged the April prices of HDPE, some manufacturers went for a small price reduction.