Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Nylon 6 Pellets going up in price January 1, 2010

It looks like prime Nylon 6 pellets will be going up at least $.06/lb. January 1st. All of the major North American (NA) Nylon 6 polymer producers have announced a $.10/lb. price increase, but it looks like they will only get about $.06/lb out of the market. This January price increase is based Benzene and Caprolactam having increased in price each month for the past three months in a row. It’s time for the major Nylon 6 producers to recover some of their costs, and they are going to do it come January 1st. For more information on the January 1st Nylon 6 price increase see the following article by Julia Meehan at ICQS.com Caprolactam exports to Asia influence Europe supply,price"

Nylon 66 resin price will go up January 2010. We are waiting to see at what price levels the producers are trying to achieve based on the tight supply of material in the world market.
LDPE – Linear Low Density Polyethylene has been flat for the past 3 months and it appears that 2010 is going to start off the same way. I do not expect to see LDPE prices go up in January 2010. The HDPE – High Density Polyethylene market appears to be in the same shape. The HDPE market has remained flat for the past 3 months, and should continue on the same course in January 2010.

On the other hand PP – Polypropylene that has seen some price increases over the past 2-3 months, may see some price softening in January 2010. There appears to be a little weakness in PP demand at the end of 2009, which should lead to a little softer PP material prices come January.

PS – Polystyrene has been flat for the past 3 months as well. Although the suppliers would like to see some price increase for PS resin, the soft demand in the domestic market will not support their attempts at a price increase in January 2010.

PET Bottle Grade Prime pellets went up $.03/lb. in December 2009, and will probably go up a few cents per pound in January 2010.

Dualloy currently has the following material available for sale.Please contact me to get a price quote for the material that you are interested in buying.

Nylon 66 Semi Dull Wide Spec Pellets
Nylon 66 Textile Bright Pellets
Nylon 66 Pellets w/ up to 0.02% TiO2
Nylon 66 Mixed Color Regrind
Nylon 66 Bright Fiber Bales

Nylon Bright Fiber - Prime Pellets - 2.7 RV

Nylon 6 Wide Spec Chips – High Residual Monomer
Mixed Grades / Mixed RV’s 2.4 – 5.0
May have up to 10% residual monomer
Will contain pellets with TiO2
May have blue/green HS pellets present

Nylon 6 Unpelletized Chopped Strands – High Residual Monomer
Mixed Grades / Mixed RV’s 2.4 – 5.0
May have up to 10%-12% residual monomer
Will contain pellets with TiO2

ABS Nat Wide Spec Pellets
3.5 Melt / 4 Izod - Low Gloss

ABS Nat Wide Spec Pellets
10 Melt / 1.5 Izod - Good for blending

ABS Nat Wide Spec Pellets
4 Melt / 7 Izod - High Gloss

ABS Wide Spec Pellets White (Appliance White)
4 Melt / 4 Izod

ABS Black Pellets
5 Melt / 4 Izod

Prime SAN Pellets
8 Melt Crystone

SAN Devol Pellets
Blue Color

SAN Pellets – High Flow w/ Black Specs
35-40 Melt Flow – Good for Color Concentrate

PC CD High Flow Pellets
80 Melt

GPPS Devol Pellets
Mixed Color for Black
High Melt: 20-23 MI

TPU Regrind Nat
Injection / Extrusion Grade TPU
88-94A Ester Based Compound
Clean Uniform regrind generated from sheet

Please give me your feedback on where you see plastic material prices today.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Nylon 66, Nylon 6 and PP prices increase in December in the USA

Nylon 66, Nylon 6, and PP prices increase in December in the USA

It is amazing how the major North American (NA) polymer producers continue to drive up plastic resin prices even with the slow US demand for material. We saw nylon 66 pellet and scrap prices increase around $.05/lb. across the board in December on all pellets, fibers bales and regrinds. World demand continues to be strong for Nylon 66, and material supply continues to be snug. Expect to see prices go up again in January 2010.

On the other hand the Nylon 6 pellets and scrap material prices appear to be stable at this time, but could go up after the first of the year. There is talk of Nylon 6 feedstock price increases in January of 2010, and if this happens expect to see Nylon 6 polymer prices increase as well. There is a lot of Nylon 6 material out in the market at this time, so prices should remain relatively stable and competitive for finished product in the near future.

The NA Polypropylene market continues to push for material price increase as well. ExxonMobil has announced a $.07/lb. price increase for all their grades of PP effective December 1, 2009. In addition Ineos Olefins and Polymers USA announced a $.07/lb. price increase on all of their grades of PP effective December 1st as well. Count on the majors squeezing all the extra money out of the NA market that they can over the next 6 -7 months, because by late 2010 there will be enough olefins capacity in China and the Middle East to meet world demand. And the major NA polymer producers will not need to export much PE or PP out of the USA, and olefin prices will soften and come in line with the world market. The polymer producers choke hold on the NA manufacturer is almost over, as we start to see more prime Olefins imported into the USA by late 2010 and early 2011.

I have the following materials available for sale. Please let me know what material you are interested in buying

Nylon 66 Semi Dull Wide Spec Pellets
Nylon 66 Textile Bright Pellets
Nylon 66 Pellets w/ up to 0.02% TiO2
Nylon 66 Mixed Color Regrind
Nylon 66 Bright Fiber Bales

Nylon 6 Wide Spec Chips – High Residual Monomer
Mixed Grades / Mixed RV’s 2.4 – 5.0
May have up to 10% residual monomer
Will contain pellets with TiO2
May have blue/green HS pellets present

Nylon 6 Un-pelletized Chopped Strands – High Residual Monomer
Mixed Grades / Mixed RV’s 2.4 – 5.0
May have up to 10%-12% residual monomer
Will contain pellets with TiO2

ABS Nat Wide Spec Pellets
3.5 Melt / 4 Izod - Low Gloss

ABS Nat Wide Spec Pellets
10 Melt / 1.5 Izod - Good for blending

ABS Nat Wide Spec Pellets
4 Melt / 7 Izod - High Gloss

ABS Wide Spec Pellets White (Appliance White)
4 Melt / 4 Izod

ABS Wide Spec Pellets White (Appliance White)
4 Melt / 4 Izod
1 TL available

ABS Black Pellets
5 Melt / 4 Izod

Prime SAN Pellets
8 Melt Crystone

SAN Devol Pellets
Blue Color

SAN Pellets – High Flow w/ Black Specs
35-40 Melt Flow – Good for Color Concentrate

PC CD High Flow Pellets
80 Melt

GPPS Devol Pellets
Mixed Color for Black
High Melt: 20-23 MI

Polyurethane TPU Regrind Nat
88-94 Share A Ester Based Compound
Clean uniform regrind from sheet extrusion

Please give me your feedback on where you see plastic material prices today.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Nylon 66 and other plastic material prices.

The end of 2009 is just around the corner, so it is usually the time of year when the major polymer producers need to reduce their material inventories. But 2009 appears to be different than most other years, with most producers not having excessive inventory that is needing to be dumped before the end of the year. Currently the NA Nylon 66 market appears to be fairly snug on the supply side, with both of the major NA producers being in a sold out position at their current polymer production levels. In addition Invista is still under force majuere due to feedstock shortages in Texas. With the increased anti-dumping duty that was imposed on Nylon 66 by the Chinese government back in July, you would think that some nylon materials would start backing up in US warehouses. But this does not appear to be the case in 2009. Based on this information I do not think that we will see a material price correction for Nylon 66 at the end of 2009. Supply is tight and material prices keep going up.

The same appears to be true for the local olefin markets as well. The polymer producers have done a good job of keeping prices up in 2009, while demand for product has been flat. They have been taking orders and running to forecast all year long, so they do not have much excessive inventory to sell off at the end of 2009. Feedstock prices have been stable in 2009, so without any unforeseen monomer disruptions, these markets should remain stable into 2010. Prime HDPE is currently seeing some demand from China, but most of the other major olefin export markets are slow. The Chinese New Year is on Feb. 14th, 2010, so the export buyers should be placing orders soon prior to the end of their year.

So based on the current level of discipline in material control from both the major Nylon and Olefin producers in NA, do not expect to see any major material inventory reductions or material price corrections (reductions) at the end of 2009.