(ICIS) -- US polyethylene terephthalate (PET) producers are seeking price increases for April, but whether these initiatives are achievable remains doubtful, market participants said on Friday. Two producers so far have announced that they will target PET price increases of 5 cents/lb (USD 110/tonne, EUR 77/tonne) for April. Domestic prices for bottle grade PET are currently assessed by ICIS at 99.50-101.50 cents/lb DEL (delivered).
However, one said its April initiative really will be determined by feedstock price increases, and that it wants to see margin improvement of 2 cents/lb on top of any raw-material hikes.
The producer said that while Mexican buyers could well end up paying an additional 5 cents/lb in April, ⌠we probably won't get the whole 5 [cent/lb increase] in the US.
The key factor is likely to be the April paraxylene (PX) contract price, a portion of which is passed on to the monthly contract price for purified terephthalic acid (PTA), the immediate precursor to PET.