Monday, January 23, 2012

Caprolactam (CPL) / Nylon 6 (PA6) prices are up in early January 2012


Dualloy Engineering Polymers Ltd. - Plastic Scrap Recycling
Nylon 66 – PA66 Off-Grade (Wide Specification) Pellets
Please feel free to contact me at: JamesGubera@dualloy.com
See our webpage at:  Dualloy.com


The Chinese New Year is upon us, with today being the first day of the year 4709 in the Year of the Water Dragon.   Gong Xi Fa Ca! “wishing you prosperity”    May the year 2012 or 4709 be a good year for everyone in the USA and China.  The China market will be slow for the next 7-10 days as they celebrate the Spring Festival, and most factories will stay closed for 15 days, or until around February 6th.  We think that there will be some material buying taking place in the China market once the factories start opening back up the second week in February.  Then the China plastics market will be active for 6-8 weeks, before slowing back down again once most buyers/factories have replenished their materials and finished goods inventories.  The Chinese markets continue to mature as they develop over time, and the days of them endlessly running product and filling up warehouses with inventory is over.  The days of the “Field of Dreams” mentality (“build it and they will buy it”) in China has come to an end.  The Chinese material purchasing patterns are very similar to those in the USA today, in that, they are mainly buying material as it is needed for the next production run.

The contract delivered price of Caprolactam (CPL) in china went up in January 2012 to the $2820-$2840/MT delivered price range, which is up from the low of $2500/MT that it reached in early December 2011.  CPL prices will be flat until mid-February due to the holiday in China, and then will start creeping back up as the market allows for feedstock and material price increases in 2102.  There is a lot of CPL capacity coming online in Asia in 2012, so although prices are heading back up, I don’t think they will get as high as they were in late 2011.   In January finished Nylon 6 - PA6 pellets are selling in the $2910-$2950/MT delivered price range in China for large volume export orders.  I think the overall China market in 2012 will be a repeat of 2011 after the initial material buying spree early in the year, because both the USA and European economies are still slow.   When consumers in the USA and Europe are not buying finished goods, the factories in China and India are not buying plastic and manufacturing products.

The Nylon 66 (PA66) off grade pellet market continues to be somewhat sluggish in early January 2012, with material prices starting to move up based on tight material supply.  We have seen PA 66 off grade pellets and regrind prices increase over the past 15 days, with most of the domestic suppliers continuing to be sold out of both PA 66 off-grade pellets and regrinds.  The PA66 market has less room for price softening than the PA6 market, so prices will stay at their current level, and then move up as soon as the economy starts to recover.  The price of Nylon 66 off grade materials should be somewhat stable in the first half of 2012, with prices starting to increase in the second half of the year, as the world economy begins to improve.

Here is where we see the various olefin material prices the week of January 23, 2012.
The following are Rail Car prices delivered to a packaging facility.
HDPE Prime Blow Molding Pellets        Domestic Sales $.60-.67/lb.
LDPE Ext Film Prime Pellets            Domestic Sales $.66-.73/lb.
LLDPE Ext Film Prime Pellets            Domestic $.65-.74/lb.
PPHomo Prime Pellets                Domestic $.68-.73/lb.
PPCopo Prime Pellets                Domestic $.68-.75/lb.   

Dualloy Sells Nylon 66 – PA66 Off-Grade (wide-specification) Pellets / Regrinds

Dualloy sells the following Nylon 66 (PA66)  / Nylon 6 (PA6) materials:
Nylon 66 Bright w/HS Off Grade Pellets           
Nylon 66 Semi Dull Off Grade Pellets       
Nylon 66 Dull Off Grade Pellets       
Nylon 66 Off-Grade Textile Bright Pellets           
Nylon 66 Off-grade Pellets w/ up to .02% TiO2   
Nylon 66 Mixed Color Regrind            
Nylon 66 Bright Regrind from Lump/Chunk   
Nylon 66 Semi Dull / Mixed Luster Regrinds   

Prme Nylon 6 Pellets 2.7 RV - Bright
Packaged in 1,500# boxes
Fibers / Compounding Feedstock

Dualloy sells the following types of Nylon Caprolactam waste:
PA6 Kettle Bottoms
PA6 Capro Residue
Call for MOQ and current material prices

Dualloy purchases / sells plastics in the following forms:
Aged / Obsolete Virgin Pellets
Wide Specification, Off-grade Pellets
Clean uniform plastic regrinds
Reactor Lumps/Chunks/Patties
Nylon Fiber Bales

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Dualloy Engineering Polymers Ltd.
Nylon 66 Plastic Sales
Nylon 6 (PA 6) Plastic Sales
Nylon 66 Plastic Recycling Company
PVB Plastic Recycling – Polyvinyl Butyral
Chrome Plated Plastic Scrap Recycling

Dualloy Inc.
14027 Memorial Dr. Suite 433
Houston, TX 77079 USA
Tel #: 281-556-6481