(ICIS) -- Weak demand and aggressive offers in the spot market are pulling down European acrylate prices as the year draws to a close, sources said on Monday.
A ┬55/tonne ($74/tonne) reduction for feedstock propylene in November added some downward pressure to the market, but players largely agreed that the key factor is the combination of current downstream bearishness with low spot numbers.
⌠It is the distribution side of the business that is bringing the price levels down, said one producer. ⌠There are a lot of sources in the market now that we have not seen in the last 18 months. While it is usually competitively priced material from Asia that makes its way into Europe, both buyers and sellers confirmed that material from Russia was currently the key driver behind the lower numbers.
Other players felt that a generally bearish sentiment amongst traders was forcing them to destock, which was in turn leading to lower prices, in particular for ethyl acrylate and butyl acrylate. ⌠Spot numbers are disastrous right now, said another European supplier, adding that this was leading to a wide range of November contract prices.
Perspectives of development of the polymers markets, pricing issues and other important aspects will be discussed at The Polymers Summit-2011, which will be held in Moscow on November 30, 2011 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. The Summit is organized by MRC with the support of ICIS. The main idea of the Summit is to find a "the golden mean" between producers and converters. When producers receive exactly such margin of production, which helps them to invest in production expansion in order to substitute polymers imports, and the converters receive such price of feedstock that helps them to compete imported finished products. The Summit site gives an access to the live video of the Summit, speakers' presentations, as well as opportunities to ask questions or make appointments to any Summit partcipant.