Polypropylene Suppliers to Extend Price Increases Throughout Summer
June 29, 2021
Tight supply availability and continued demand have led one North American Polypropylene (PP) producer to announce a price increase for August. The August announcement comes as suppliers are still trying to implement price increases for June and July.
In a letter to customers obtained on Tuesday, ExxonMobil said it would increase all grades of PP resin by $.05/lb ($110/tonne) on August 1st. The increase is separate from any price change in Propylene Monomer and from previously announced increases, and applies to all branded Achieve Advanced PP and ExxonMobil PP Homopolymer, Copolymer and random Copolymer resins, including AXO3BE3 and series PP1000 to PP9000 inclusively.
So far, ExxonMobil has been the only producer seen with an August price increase announcement.
ExxonMobil announced an $.08/lb price increase for June but did not issue any price initiative for July.
The August letter comes one day after LyondellBasell said effective July 1st, its Equistar Chemicals business will implement a price increase for all Polypropylene products sold in North America in alignment with any published change in the July US Gulf Coast Propylene Monomer price, plus an additional US $0.05/lb price increase.
LyondellBasell's July increase push is in addition to its previously announced price increases. The company said orders accepted before the increase date is subject to its ability to supply, and specialty grades may be subject to different price increases.
TotalEnergies and Formosa announced separate July price increases of $.03/lb and $.05/lb, respectively.
Currently, producers are pushing for an $.08/lb margin increase for June in addition to a rise in the June Propylene contract. Market participants said last week one seller settled June Propylene Monomer at an increase of $.04/lb above the May contract price of $.70/lb, while others are pushing for a higher settlement.
By Brian Balboa for The Plastics Exchange.
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