Asian Caprolactam (Capro) prices continued to rise in July 2011

Dualloy Engineering Polymers Ltd. - Plastic Scrap Recycling

Please feel free to contact me at: JamesGubera@dualloy.com

See our webpage at:  Dualloy.com

The price of prime Caprolactam (Capro) was up again in the month July 2011 to over $3400/MT delivered in the Asian market.  Although we have seen most other material prices soften over the past 2 months, the price of Capro seems to be on the way back up.  The USA domestic producers raised the price of Caprolactam up to the $3500/MT or higher for August 2011 shipments.  The real problem now for the producers is getting the price of prime Nylon 6 to keep up with the monthly Caprolactam price increases.  Now with the current down turn in the world economy it will be hard for the Capro producers to keep the prices up as the price of oil drops into the low $80’s/barrel.  Both cotton and PET prices are dropping, which will put additional pressure on the price of Nylon 6 fibers to soften.  Cotton is currently selling at $1.49/lb, which has softened in price by 55% since reaching a high in March of $2.29/lb.

The price of prime Nylon 6 (PA6) pellets should start to soften due to lower feedstock costs, and downward pricing pressure from competitive fibers like cotton and PET.

We continue to see the Asian market slow in both domestic and export sales orders.  The Nylon 66 (PA66) wide-specification (WS) prices have remained stable in the Asian market due to the tightness in the material supply.  Although prime Nylon 66 prices have softened slightly in China, the price of the PA 66 WS pellets and regrinds have remained fairly stable in the Asian market.  This due to the fact that the USA domestic Nylon 66 producers are in a sold out position for their second quality pellets, fibers, and regrind scrap.  The WS Nylon 66 market is probably tighter in material supply than the prime market at this time, so don’t expect to see WS Nylon 66 prices soften much in 2011.

I would be cautious on any plastic material that is being purchased in the month of August.  PE / PP were both expected to go up in this month, but the current softening in the price of oil should put and end to both of those announced increases.  I think most Major Producers and Material Buyers are in a hold pattern, and are trying to figure out how much material prices will soften due to the continued downturn in the world economy.  We expect to see most material prices down or flat in price over the next 60 days.

 Dualloy is currently seeing the following material prices:

Generic prime PP pellets – PP were down another $.04/lb. in July, but then the producers announced a $.03.lb increase for August..  We are currently seeing the price of PP railcars in the $.71-.74/lb delivered price range.  LTL (20K#+) packaged goods should probably be selling in the $.84-.88/lb. delivered price range.

Generic prime LDPE pellets – The price of LDPE dropped by about $.04/lb. in July, but is up $.05/lb for August.  Railcars are still selling in the mid-$.80’s delivered to the packaging warehouse in Houston.  There is an increase of $.06/lb. announced in LDPE for Sept. 2011.

Generic Pellets HDPE – At the end of June delivered railcars of blow molding resin are selling in the $.62-$.64/lb. price range, and are expected to dip below $.60/lb. for July 2011 railcar shipments.

WS ABS – We are currently seeing WS ABS 3 MI / 3 Izod, Nat Color, low gloss pellets selling around $1.20/lb. in truck load quantities.

WS PC – We are currently seeing WS PC pellets selling in the $1.30-1.35/lb. price range.

PC Regrind – We currently see clean PC bottle RGR selling in the $.87-.92/lb. price range.

Dualloy currently has the following Nylon 66 (PA66) and Nylon 6 (PA6) materials for sale;

Nylon 66 Bright w/HS Wide Spec Pellets            $1.66/lb.          

Nylon 66 Semi Dull Wide Spec Pellets                $1.64/lb

Nylon 66 Dull Second Quality Pellets                   $1.60/lb.

Nylon 66 Off-Grade Textile Bright Pellets     $1.68/lb.                      

Nylon 66 Off-grade Pellets w/ up to .02% TiO2   $1.74/lb.

Nylon 66 Mixed Color Regrind                              $1.40/lb.

Nylon 66 Bright Regrind from Lump/Chunk         $1.48/lb.

Nylon 66 Semi Dull / Mixed Luster Regrind         $1.44/lb.

All prices are for full TL’s Ex-works USA plant.  All material prices are subject to change without notice.

All material offered is subject to prior sale.  Call for the current material price quotation.

Prime Nylon 6 Pellets 2.7 RV - Natural

Packaged in 1,500# boxes

Dualloy Sells the following types of Nylon 6 Polymer production waste.

PA6 Kettle Bottoms

PA6 Capro Residue

Call for MOQ and current material prices

Dualloy purchases / sells plastic resin and polymers in the following forms.

Aged / Obsolete Virgin Pellets

Wide Specification, Off-grade Pellets

Clean uniform plastic regrinds

Reactor Lumps/Chunks/Patties

Nylon Fiber Bales

See us on Facebook at the following pages:

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

Acrylic PMMA Plastic Reycyling

Caprolactam prices in Asia are back to rising after falling to around $3120/MT in late May 2011

It is hard to say what is going to happen to plastic resin prices through the 3 QTR of 2011, but I feel most resin prices will soften over the next 30-60 days.  We saw Caprolactam (Capro) fall in price by about $400/MT in late May to a price range of about $3120-$3130/MT, after reaching a high of around $3500/MT at the beginning of the month.  In June we saw the capro price in China recover by about $100/MT ending the month in the $3220-$3230/MT delivered price range.  The USA major Capro producers are hoping to push the price up to $3300/MT in July, but I don’t think that there is enough demand in the world market to support the next price increase.  China’s housing market is continuing to show signs of slowing down, especially after the Central Government raised the Banks reserve rate last week to 21.5%.  This ½ percent increase in the reserve rate will take an additional USD$57-58 billion out of circulation in the Chinese economy. 

In addition, China’s Government Banks have tightened their lending practices to small companies, which forces most small companies to seek high interest business loans from the private sector (loan sharks).  The current correction in the Chinese market is just beginning, and will continue to worsen over the next 30-90 days, so watch for plastic material inventories to build and prices to fall during the same time period.  Due to the slower demand in the China market for prime Nylon 6 pellets material inventories are starting to grow, and prices are continuing to soften.  It is hard for me to put my finger on the price of wide specification (WS) Nylon resins in China today, because no one is placing orders for material.  We have both Nylon 66 and Nylon 6 products in inventory to sell in our Guangzhou warehouse, but we do not see the customers coming in the door to buy material.  The major polymer producers know that China’s manufacturing is slowing down in the short run, and are hoping that India will become the new emerging market to keep the world’s plastic supply in balance (short).

Please see out web page at:   http://dualloy.com/

We are currently seeing the following material prices:

Generic prime PP pellets – PP prices are down by about $.07-.08/lb. in June and should soften some more in July.  We are currently seeing the price of PP railcars in the $.75-.77/lb delivered price range.  LTL (20K#+) packaged goods should probably be selling in the $.88-.92/lb. delivered price range.  Wait 2 more days and you should be able to buy the same material for less in July.

Generic prime LDPE pellets – The price of LDPE dropped by about $.08/lb. in June as well.  Railcars are currently selling in the mid-$.80’s delivered to the packaging warehouse in Houston.

Generic prime HDPE pellets– The biggest price drop of about $.09/lb. was seen in generic prime HDPE blow molding material, and it as well should continue to soften in July.  At the end of June delivered railcars of blow molding resin are selling in the $.65-$.66/lb. price range, and are expected to dip below $.60/lb. for July 2011 railcar shipments.

Wide-Specification (WS) ABS – We are currently seeing WS ABS 3 MI / 3 Izod, Nat Color, low gloss pellets selling around $1.20/lb. in truck load quantities.

WS PC – We are currently seeing WS PC pellets selling in the $1.30-1.35/lb. price range.

PC Regrind – We currently see clean PC bottle RGR selling in the $.87-.92/lb. price range.

Dualloy has the following Nylon 66 (PA66) and Nylon 6 (PA6) materials for sale;

Nylon 66 Bright w/HS Wide Spec Pellets           $1.66/lb.          

Nylon 66 Semi Dull Wide Spec Pellets               $1.64/lb

Nylon 66 Dull Second Quality Pellets                  $1.60/lb.

Nylon 66 Off-Grade Textile Bright Pellets       $1.68/lb.                      

Nylon 66 Off-grade Pellets w/ up to .02% TiO2   $1.74/lb.

Nylon 66 Mixed Color Regrind                            $1.40/lb.

Nylon 66 Bright Regrind from Lump/Chunk       $1.48/lb.

Nylon 66 Semi Dull / Mixed Luster Regrind       $1.44/lb.

All prices are for full TL’s Ex-works USA plant.  All material prices are subject to change without notice.  All material offered is subject to prior sale.  Call for the current material price quotation.

Prime Nylon 6 Pellets 2.7 RV - Natural

Packaged in 1,500# boxes

Dualloy Sells the following types of Nylon 6 Polymer production waste.

PA6 Kettle Bottoms

PA6 Capro Residue

Call for MOQ and current material prices

Dualloy purchases / sells plastic resin and polymers in the following forms.

Aged / Obsolete Virgin Pellets

Wide Specification, Off-grade Pellets

Clean uniform plastic regrinds

Reactor Lumps/Chunks/Patties

Nylon Fiber Bales

Please feel free to contact me at: JamesGubera@dualloy.com

See us on Facebook at the following pages:

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

Caprolactam (Capro) and Nylon 6 (PA6) continue to soften in the Asia/China markets.

The price of prime Caprolactam continues to soften in the Asian market. Last week Capro was selling in China in the $3320/MT price range and falling. The USA Capro suppliers (Honeywell / BASF) are trying to maintain the price at $3500/MT for their material, but the China Capro producers are being much more aggressive in leading the Capro price reductions. Most of our Nylon 6 buyers (compounders and end users) have stopped buying resin, and are running their plants on lower cost old inventory that is in the warehouse. Any Capro or Nylon 6 (PA6) price increases at this time are being driven by the China traders/brokers on the supply side, because today’s price increases are not based on true demand. Most materials buyers feel these markets will continue to soften, and will stay out of the Capro and PA6 market as long as their old inventory will allow. Over the past week we have watched PA6 drop in price by about $.01 ($22/MT) per day, and it looks like this trend will continue in the short run.

The Nylon 66 (PA 66) market is also starting to show signs of price softening in China, but not to the same extent as the Capro and PA 6 price decreases. PA 66 is a much tighter market on the supply side, so it probably won’t see the weekly price decreases that are being seen in the PA 6 market. Most of our customers feel that all material prices have gotten out of hand, and they can no longer pass them on to the end product and consumers. I think that PA 66 prices will stabilize before the price of PA 6 due to a tighter supply of the material in the world market. I will not guess where either material, PA 66 or PA 6, is going to bottom out, but the current slowdown in the China market will definitely have its impact on both materials and continue to drive down prices in the short run.

We see material prices continue to head up in both the domestic and China Acrylic (PMMA) markets, which will not be helped by the recent flooding on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. Lucite has declared force majeure in the MMA market due to this recent flooding, because of their inability to move MMA monomer barges up both rivers to their customers due to the high water. I understand that the flooding has had a negative impact on the styrene monomer market, which has lead to Ineos declaring force majeure in the polystyrene market late last week. I am not sure if this is going to drive up material prices for PMMA or PS in the short run, because these should be temporary feedstock supply disruptions that will go away once the water level gets back to normal on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

The domestic ABS market appears to be sold out through June, and most of the USA suppliers are now taking orders for July. The crazy part is that you have to get your orders in now for July shipments, but the suppliers cannot tell the buyers where the price for material will be when they ship the car of ABS to the warehouse for packaging. It is basically order now, and you will be billed at the July market price that will be determined for ABS in mid-June.

When are the material price increases for plastic going to stop? Today it is any ones guess.

I think that most plastic materials have reached their peak in pricing, and should start to show signs of softening as we move into the summer months. The public warehouse that we use in Houston, TX, mainly loads export containers for Formosa Plastics, and they have not loaded a single export container of either PE or PP since the first of April. Olefin inventories are starting to back up in the Houston packaging warehouses, because the domestic producers have priced themselves out of the Asian export market. The ABS producers will start building excess inventories as well as we move into the summer months, because of the slow housing market and decreased demand from DWV pipe producers.

Here is where we pricing for the following materials the week of May 16, 2011. These are material buying prices for TL or larger quantities from the large plastic resellers / brokers.

ABS Wide-spec pellets (3 Melt / 3 Izod - low gloss) $1.20+/lb.

ABS Prime Pellets $1.35+/lb.

SAN Wide-spec pellets (w/black specs) $.90/lb.

SAN Wide-spec pellets (good color) $.96-.98//lb.

SAN Prime pellets $1.30+/lb.

PC/ABS Black Wide-spec pellets $.92-.95/lb.

PC/ABS Black reprocessed pellets $.82-.85/lb.

PP Homo Prime Railcars $1.14+/lb.

PP Homo Prime truck loads $1.25+/lb.

LDPE Wide-spec truck loads $.85-.90/lb.

LDPE Prime $1.10+/lb.

HDPE Blow Molding Grade $.80-.83/lb.

(Some brokers are still selling old inventory at) $.77-.79/lb.

HDPE Injection $.75-.77/lb.

Dualloy currently has the following Nylon 66 (PA66) and Nylon 6 (PA6) materials for sale;

Nylon 66 Bright w/HS Wide Spec Pellets

Nylon 66 Semi Dull Wide Spec Pellets

Nylon 66 Dull Second Quality Pellets

Nylon 66 Off-GradeTextile 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 Regrind

Prime Nylon 6 Pellets 2.7 RV - Natural

Packaged in 1,500# boxes

Dualloy Sells the following types of Nylon 6 Polymer production waste.

PA6 Kettle Bottoms

PA6 Capro Residue

PA6 Solidified Oligomer Waste

Call for MOQ and current material prices

Dualloy purchases / sells plastic resin and polymers in the following forms.

Aged / Obsolete Virgin Pellets

Wide Specification, Off-grade Pellets

Clean uniform plastic regrinds

Reactor Lumps/Chunks/Patties

Nylon Fiber Bales

Please feel free to contact me at: JamesGubera@dualloy.com

See us on Facebook at the following pages:

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

Caprolactam (Capro) and Nylon 6 (PA6) prices are softening in the Asia/China Markets

The price of prime Caprolactam (Capro) is finally starting to soften in the Asian market. Over the past two weeks we have seen Capro soften in price by $200/MT, and the price has continued to soften even more this week as well. Last week Capro was selling in China in the $3430/MT price range and falling. I have just returned from spending the past two weeks in China traveling to see our Nylon 6 customers, and the Asian market is definitely starting to show signs of slowing. The slowdown in Asia is being caused by a combination of the following factors. One the China Government is tightening credit in the private sector by increasing the interest rate that their Banks are now charging. The Second factor contributing to the current slowdown is that China Government has increased the cash reserve that the local Banks must hold, which is making it harder for some of our customers to access the funds that they have on deposit that is used to pay their normal operating expenses. The third factor is that the current feedstock and material price increases are supply driven and not demand driven, so most of our customers have just simply stopped buying material.

The recent Capro / Nylon 6 (PA-6) price increases are being driven by the plastic traders/brokers speculating on the PA6 market price continuing to go up month after month. I think that speculative profit taking without sales being driven by demand is over for the time being. Anyone that has product on the water to Asia should get ready for a downward price adjustment. Based on the Capro supply disruption from the tsunami in Japan, and the fact that Honeywell’s Capro plant in VA has been down for almost a month, you would think that both Capro and PA6 prices would continue to rise. But they are not, Capro / PA6 prices are actually starting to soften even with the current supply outages that I previously mentioned. Based on the current soft market conditions get ready for additional price softening for both products.

Basic chemicals and feedstocks are softening across the board in China. This should lead to all plastic material prices softening in the Asian markets. I cannot speak about what is going to happen with material prices in the USA, because our domestic supply is being manipulated by the US polymer producers keeping supply tight in this country. I realize that by only having a few large producers for each type of polymer those markets will achieve a better economy of scale, but the down side is once they start manipulating (tightening) supply we are all paying higher prices for the goods that we are buying. Unfortunately the capital investment that it takes to enter into the chemicals market is so great don’t expect to see any new players in our domestic basic chemicals markets in the near future. Personally I thought this is what we had anti-trust laws for in America.

That is why I say, that as much as we like to hate Asian suppliers it will be cheaper plastic from the Middle East and China that will finally bring true competitiveness back into the USA polymer markets. Why is prime PP selling in China for $.63/lb. at this time, when the price in the USA for the same prime PP material is well above $.90/lb.? Please feel free to send me an email and tell me if I am wrong.

Dualloy currently has the following Nylon 66 (PA66) and Nylon 6 (PA6) materials for sale;

Nylon 66 Bright w/HS Wide Spec Pellets

Nylon 66 Semi Dull Wide Spec Pellets

Nylon 66 Dull Second Quality Pellets

Nylon 66 Off-GradeTextile 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 Regrind

Prime Nylon 6 Pellets 2.7 RV - Natural

Packaged in 1,500# boxes

Dualloy Sells the following types of Nylon 6 Polymer production waste.

PA6 Kettle Bottoms

PA6 Capro Residue

PA6 Solidified Oligomer Waste

Call for MOQ and current material prices

Dualloy purchases / sells plastic resin and polymers in the following forms.

Aged / Obsolete Virgin Pellets

Wide Specification, Off-grade Pellets

Clean uniform plastic regrinds

Reactor Lumps/Chunks/Patties

Nylon Fiber Bales

Please feel free to contact me at: JamesGubera@dualloy.com

See us on Facebook at the following pages:

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

Caprolactam (Capro) reaches $3620-$3630/MT in Asia /China Nylon 6 Market

The price of prime Caprolactam (Capro) is now trading above $3620/MT ($1.642/lb.) delivered in the Asian market for April shipments. This once again is a historically high price for prime Capro that is being driven by the supply disruption in Japan, along with Honeywell’s, Hopewell, VA Capro plant being down due to a shortage of material feedstock. Honeywell has declared force majeure on Capro due the supply chain disruption caused by Sunonco declaring force majeure in cumene. Cumene is the feedstock used to make Phenol, which is then used to make Nylon 6. This of course is not good for the average prime Nylon 6 buyer, because this situation is pushing the price of prime material at $1.55/lb. or higher in the USA market. Most domestic Nylon 6 producers are getting the higher prices that they are demanding for prime pellets, or else the will just flake the Capro and sell the material in the Asian market.

I think that the Nylon 6 prices will only stay elevated as long as there are problems in the feedstock supply chain. We are seeing the shops in China starting to slow down once again, due to a slowing market, and the Central Government’s tightening of the money supply and credit in China. Their housing market is out of control, and will have a price correction in the not too distant future. The Chinese Central Government does not want to see their housing market collapse like ours did starting in 2008. So they have increased their interest rates on home loans to slow down the speculative growth in their domestic housing market. At the same time the Central Government is making the Banks maintain a healthy cash reserve that is impacting the average company’s ability to borrow money and pay their bills.

In China most business is done on a cash basis. Our customers come to inspect the Nylon 66 and Nylon 6 materials in our warehouse. Then they pay cash for the material that they are buying, and send their truck in to pick up the material. Now some of our customers are having trouble getting THEIR CASH out of the Bank of China to purchase material, because the Banks are holding the customers money so it does not go below the set cash reserve. So with the money supply getting tighter in China, as business is starting to slow down again, Nylon 6 prices will fall once world Capro production ends the current force majeure supply situation. The price of Nylon 6 is over heated in today’s market, and should correct once Capro supply returns to normal due to the slowing market in China and the world.

The Nylon 66 market still shows no signs of softening at this time as well. Both of the domestic PA66 producers are sold out, and material feedstock prices only seem to keep going up. The price of reactor grade Propylene is up again in April, so this should drive up Ascend’s price for Nylon 66 feedstock. With both domestic producers in a sold out situation I don’t see the price of PA-66 softening any time soon.

When are the price increases going to stop? Once the US economy goes into anther tail spin? When the price of prime Polypropylene Homopolymer gets to $.93/lb. or higher for truck load quantities something is out of line here, or am I the one that is missing something. Two things are going to happen with today’s current plastics market. One - The major polymer producers are going to drive the price of materials up so high that it is going to slow the growth in our domestic economy. Two – The current high prices for plastic feedstock / polymers is going to open the door for more Asian imports of plastic into the US market. We all must not forget when ABS was $1.50/lb. or higher in the USA until Chi Mei entered the game. Then is seems that the price of prime ABS went down to around $.90/lb. for prime ABS resin from Taiwan. Everyone likes to hate the Asian producers for low prices, but their imports will force the US domestic polymer producers prices down to come in line with the world market.

Dualloy currently has the following Nylon (PA6) and Nylon 66 (PA 66 materials for sale:

Nylon 66 Bright w/HS Pellets

Nylon 66 Semi Dull Wide Spec Pellets

Nylon 66 Dull Second Quality Pellets

Nylon 66 Textile Bright Pellets

Nylon 66 Pellets w/ up to 0.02% TiO2

Nylon 66 Mixed Color Regrind

Nylon 66 Bright Regrinds

Nylon 66 Semi Dull / Mixed Luster Regrind

Prime Nylon 6 Pellets 2.7 RV - Natural

Packaged in 1,500# boxes

Dualloy sells the following types of Nylon 6 Polymer waste.

Nylon 6 Kettle Bottoms

Nylon 6 Depoly Residue

Nylon 6 Solidified Oligomer Waste

Call for MOQ and current material prices.

Dualloy purchases/sells plastic resin and polymers in the following forms.

Aged/Obsolete Virgin Pellets

Wide-Specification Pellets

Clean uniform Plastic Regrinds

Reactor Lumps/Chunks/Patties

Nylon Fiber Bales

Please feel free to contact me at: JamesGubera@dualloy.com