Standard Thermoplastics Trend April 2019: Prices rise further / Higher monomer costs are main driver / Unscheduled plant outages bring additional upward thrust to polyolefins

Polyethylene March 2019: Price hikes largely confined to passing on of costs / Supply and demand generally balanced / Uptrend will increase in April due to maintenance work

Polypropylene March 2019: Weak demand curbs price momentum / Cost movement remains yardstick / Moderate rises likely in April

Styrenics March 2019: Prices continue uptrend / Hikes often below cost increases / Processors increasingly fall back to inventories / Further price increases likely

PVC March 2019: Rather subdued demand hinders producers' margin wishes / Signs pointing to a rise in April

PET March 2019: Slight firming of notations / Sluggish demand stops costs from being passed on / Latent upward pressure in April

Standard Thermoplastics Trend March 2019: Producers hope for improvement in margins following C2 cost increase / PE and PVC consumers respond by holding back on buying / Subdued demand caps PP increases / Styrenics firmer

Polypropylene February 2019: Producers' hikes falter / Slack demand leads to weak rollover / Increases hardly avoidable in March

Polyethylene February 2019: Complete lack of stimulus / Rollover dominates the picture / Price increases probable in March

Styrenics February 2019: Prices bottom out / Slight increases for polystyrene / Processors stock up inventories / Players expect bull market to begin in March

PET February 2019: Weak rollover predominates / Demand still very subdued / Notations expected to pick up in March as PX firms

PVC February 2019: Most contracts settled at rollovers / Production curtailments not causing any major upheavals / Call-offs normal despite the low season / Increases predicted for March

Standard Thermoplastics Trend February 2019: Polyolefins and PVC see stability / Increases for polystyrene / Demand largely normal / Adequate availability for most materials / Supply shortage with PS

Styrenics January 2019: EPS and ABS fall only slightly / Even smaller discounts on PS / Inventories being replenished / Buying opportunities in February / New grade in PIE reports – grey EPS insulation

Polyethylene January 2019: Cost reduction generally factored in / A few producers manage to retain part of it / Demand picks up slowly in the new year / With stable costs in February, situation expected to gradually return to normal

Polypropylene January 2019: Producers improve margins / End markets still weak / Outages and Brexit stimulate ordering / Moderate hikes in February

PVC January 2019: High-volume purchases reflect reduction in C2 costs / Demand robust for the season / No restrictions on production / Rollover expected for February

PET January 2019: Further reductions on the European market / Cost side still weak / Sufficient availability of imports / No trend reversal expected in February

Standard Thermoplastics Trend January 2019: Notations continue to crumble / Many producers unwilling to factor in cost reductions in full / Stabilisation in sight despite uncertain demand situation

Polyethylene December 2018: Producers manage to hang on to some of the cost reduction / First step towards margin improvement successful / Costs again decrease in January / Further reductions possible