Demand has reportedly been steady in the last week of July. "We still see weak demand for polyolefins in Poland; still, some companies decided to build small stocks due to a predicted price increase" - a trader has commented. The PP and the PP market situation is similar. "It is difficult to distinguish between (trade in) the materials; there is some interest in both PP and PE, but it is below seasonal levels," - they added.
Market players still expect an increase in demand from the construction industry, but there is the information that construction companies have already started laying off their employees for lack of orders. Supply of all grades but specialty and off-spec grades has been sufficient since last week.
Polyolefins have held their last week’s value. The lower end of the HDPE price range is €950/t now. Film LDPE quotes remain below €1,000/t in Poland. PP copolymers are available at €950 - 1,050/t.
August quotes for monomers, which will be announced next week, will either stay changed from this month or go €10/t up. PE and PP prices will remain at the current levels next month. Prices for some types of polymers, however, may rise as early as August as European production facilities reduce capacity utilisation.
