October PS imports to Uraine dropped by 8%

MOSCOW (MRC) -- October polystyrene (PS) imports to the Ukrainian domestic market fell by 8% from September to 5,400 tonnes, according to MRC DataScope.

Decreased imports was caused by reduced consumption in the general purpose polystyrene (GPPS) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) sectors, while in the  expandable polystyrene (EPS) segment, purchases showed an upward trend.

EPS import to Ukraine grew by 10% in October to 2,550 tonnes on feedstock shortages and vivid seasonal activity. High consumer activity remained in the market in November, the shortage of material became more accute because of an outage at Stirol.

At the same time, GPPS and HIPS imports dropped by a quarter in October to 2,400 tonnes.

Exports of Ukrainian EPS and GPPS also fell down in October due to stronger demand and tight supply in the domestic market. A sharp drop in exports from Ukraine are expected in November, which will be caused by the absence of PS production in Ukraine.

As reported earlier, Stirol (Gorlovka) shut down its PS production in late October, 2013, because of a shortage of styrene monomer (SM).

mrcplast.com