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PET bottle resin, nylon, PC close out 2023 with price drops

North American PET bottle resin prices dropped a total of 3 cents per pound on average in November and December while prices for nylon and polycarbonate continued to fall through the last quarter of 2023.

Market sources cited lower demand and steady feedstock costs as reasons for the PET price drop. Prices had fallen 4 cents in October.

PET prices finished 2023 down a net of 4 cents per pound. PET demand was lower than expected in 2023, even during the warmer summer months.

Bottled water — the largest beverage segment in the U.S. and a major consumer of PET — continues to grow, but has slowed in recent years, according to a recent report from the Beverage Marketing Corp. consulting firm.

"The sort of growth that saw it double in volume in less than a decade … while still outperforming other major beverage types no longer characterizes the category," BMC said.

"Nonetheless, by any objective measure, the bottled water category has been the greatest success story in the history of the beverage industry — and the story is far from over," it added.

Bottled water in recent years displaced carbonated soft drinks as the biggest beverage segment in the U.S. Although CSD losses have slowed in recent years, BMC said that all regions of the U.S. "are expected to have dwindling per capita [CSD] consumption in the next five years."

Nylon, PC continue to drop

North American prices for nylon and polycarbonate resins saw slight declines in the fourth quarter of 2023.

Regional prices for all grades of nylon 6 and 6/6 were down an average of 5 cents between October and December, with prices for polycarbonate down an average of 2 cents, according to market sources contacted by Plastics News.

Attempts by producers to raise prices in that period were unsuccessful, as demand growth was slow and material was readily available.

"Some end markets were seeing more demand, but we also were seeing deals on rail cars for some materials," one source said.

The fourth-quarter declines continued a pattern of price erosion that had started earlier in the year. Nylon and PC prices each had dropped 2 cents total in the July-August period. Nylon 6 prices also had been down 10 cents in total for May and June, with nylon 6/6 prices down 13 cents in those two months. PC prices declined an average of 6 cents in May and June.

The source added that inventory corrections also played a role in second-half price drops for nylon and PC.

Many processors found themselves with more material than they needed, having placed orders amid the shipping chaos of 2020 and 2021. Those challenges were caused by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic followed by the ice storm that hit Texas in early 2021, affecting supply chains and plastics and chemical manufacturing for most of the year.

Inventory challenges should play a smaller role in 2024, the source said, adding that "it feels like we're getting back to normal."

* Source : https://www.plasticsnews.com/resin-pricing/pet-bottle-resin-nylon-pc-close-out-2023-price-drops

* Edit : HANDLER