How are PIE’s polymer prices generated?
Prices are based on information obtained by PIE from plastics converters, distributors, traders and producers. They are the outcome of an online survey (panel) and complemented and weighted by detailed telephone interviews. PIE boasts the plastics industry’s largest network of contacts. More than 600 regular panel participants in Europe ensure that our coverage is close to the market beat.

Our China, North America and Russia polymer prices are researched by local reporters and cooperation partners. You can find additional details on the relevant price methodology in the reports themselves.
 
What types of prices are referred to?
Unless otherwise stated, all prices refer to the average western European contract price of a specific time period (all data without guarantee). As a rule, PIE reports gross prices including delivery. They do not reflect any rebates, discounts or other net calculations, nor do they include VAT.

Our prices refer to the following volume orders:

• Standard thermoplastics: base material in 20 t lots
• Engineering thermoplastics: individual orders of ready-to-use materials (injection moulding grades) ranging between 3-10 t lots
• Polyurethane feedstocks and composites: small individual orders
• Recyclate: common western European standard grades in volume lots starting at 1 t

How are the average prices calculated?
Using the information provided by the panel, every individual polymer type is assigned a weighted range. In doing so, PIE takes account of the specifics of each company surveyed, including, for example, price level, volume, speciality grades, etc. The arithmetic range constitutes the reference price and is used for all charts.

How is volatility calculated in PIE’s polymer reference prices
Volatility is a means to measure the fluctuation of parameters, and in this context is used with respect to a product’s monthly reference price. As is the case in financial mathematics, including for stock prices, PIE calculates volatility as the standard deviation of a monthly reference price’s difference to that of the previous month, using all months in the year. In other words, volatility is the standard deviation to the absolute deltas of a year’s previous months.

If you as a buyer also regularly contract resin, we would like to invite you to participate in our regular price panel (“Polymer Prices Active”). In case of questions concerning polymer prices, do not hesitate to contact our editorial staff at info@pieweb.com