Curbed price rally?
The drastic price hike that has come to characterize standard thermoplastics since the beginning of the year slowed down in Q2 and largely came to a standstill. The same cannot be said for engineering thermoplastics, which showed an upward price movement that actually gathered more speed in Q2 and is only likely to lose some of its momentum in the current quarter, the plastics news portal and biweekly newsletter "PIE – Plastics Information Europe" reports.
The "Plastixx ST" price index for standard thermoplastics continued to point upward in Q2, rising from 1,881 points at the end of March to 2,040 points by the end of June (up 8.5%). The highest rises were recorded by PP and EPS, which added 13% during this time frame, followed by LDPE, LLDPE, EVA, EPS and PS, which saw increases of between 7-10%.
While PET prices rose by 4%, those of PVC added 6%. HDPE prices, by contrast, rose by a mere 3%.