Manufacturers of polyethylene (PE) in the European market faced strong resistance to higher price proposals for April supplies, ICIS sources told the market.

At the same time, buyers are confident that March prices will be prolonged for April and are even preparing to declare lower prices, sources said.

“We will definitely go to lower prices, and the prolongation of prices is already in our pocket,” said one of the buyers.

“I can quickly sum up the prices for the April shipments – the prolongation of prices,” said another buyer.

At the same time, one of the manufacturers said: “We see an opportunity for price increases, but the increase is limited.”

Some brands of PE experienced more pressure than others. So, while the quotes of low-density polyethylene (HDPE) basically remained at the level of March, in the pipe PND sector a slight increase in prices was registered. This, in particular, is due to problems in production and good demand in individual segments.

Pricing in the blow molding sector was influenced by cheap imports, but here in April manufacturers tried to increase quotes.

At the same time, a limited supply has been observed in the market for butene-based brands of linear polyethylene (LLDPE) C4 over the past few weeks. However, the supply situation improved somewhat, as other LDL brands were available for the replacement of LDL-C4. The supply of the same metallocene linear polyethylene (MLPNP) was good in the last few weeks.

One of the manufacturers was not ready for the prolongation of prices and still saw the possibility of rising prices.

“We have achieved higher prices in Eastern Europe and Russia,” he said.

Spot prices were generally stable or slightly lower, depending on the beginning of the negotiation process, but it is expected that prices will go down, as import volumes have become widely available in the market.

It is expected that negotiations on the price in the European PE market will continue throughout the month.