Prices of polystyrene (PS) in the Middle East continued to fall last week amid falling futures in the styrene monomer market, ICIS sources told the market.

In particular, last week, suppliers lowered their price offers by about USD20-50 per tonne compared to the level of a week earlier to USD1,540-1,600 per tonne, CFR GCC (with delivery to the Gulf countries) for polystyrene for general use (MSS / M) and up to USD1,610-1,700 per tonne, CFR GCC, for impact-resistant polystyrene (UPS / M).

However, buyers basically stayed on the sidelines, as they expect further price fall in the short term if the downward trend of the styrene quotations continues.

Some sellers also noted an increase in the number of requests from buyers on the eve of the beginning of the month of the Muslim Ramadan post in June, which, as a rule, there is a higher demand for PS for packaging food and other packaging products.

The prices of MSS / M on March 3 were in the range of USD1,540-1,620 per tonne, CFC GCC, while the prices of UPS / M were USD1,620-1,640 per tonne, CFR GCC, according to ICIS.