European polymer prices continued to rise over the week to 10th April. There were increases of between 25 and 400 EUR per tonne reported in the prices of HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, Polypropylene, PVC, ABS and Polystyrene.
Asian polymers were mixed with increases of 20 USD per tonne reported in the prices of PET and Polystyrene. There was a reduction of 25 USD per tonne noted in the price of PVC. In China, the prices of HDPE, LDPE and LLDPE rose by between 50 and 100 USD per tonne.
U.S. polymers rose with increases of between 1 and 6 Cents per pound reported in the prices of HDPE, LDPE, LLDPE, PET, ABS and Polystyrene.
West Texas Intermediate and Brent Crude fell to $96.57 and $95.20 per barrel respectively, reductions of 13.4% and 12.7%.
Global oil prices posted their largest weekly decline since 2022 ahead of talks between Iran and the U.S. aimed at securing a permanent ceasefire.
However, polymer prices, particularly in Europe, continued to rise sharply driven by increasing feedstock costs and high demand from Asia.
US vice-president, JD Vance is meeting representatives of the Iranian government in Islamabad in Pakistan on Saturday to try to nail down details of a ceasefire deal that already appears to be in jeopardy after continued air strikes in Israel and Lebanon and a stalemate over the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.
Traffic through the strait remained less than 10% of normal volumes as Tehran warned ships to keep to its territorial waters. Most ships that have sailed through the Strait in the past few days were linked to Iran, ship-tracking data showed.
Iran wants to charge fees for ships to pass through the strait as part of a peace deal, but Western leaders and the United Nations’ shipping agency have pushed back on that idea.