Large volumes of cheaper PET resin from China entering US and Mexican market, causing prices of commodity to be suppressed, according to US recycled PET industry source, ICIS Chemical Business reports

Elyse Blye

LONDON , May 22, 2014 (ICIS Chemical Business (CBNB Abstracts) ) – The oversupply of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in China is growing. This has led to the increase in the amount of virgin PET resin being shipped from the Asian country to the US west coast and Mexico. According to a US recycled-PET (R-PET) industry source, large volumes of cheaper PET resin from China are entering the west coast and Mexican market, causing the prices of the commodity in both nations to be supressed. Moreover, the oversupply of the material suggests that the economy of China is declining at a faster rate. In Apr 2014, prices of virgin bottle-grade PET delivered to Mexico dropped to $30/tonne. Monthly negotiated prices of PET in the US remain unclear due to unsettled feedstock contracts. For Apr 2014, the upstream paraxylene contract did not settle; thus, there will be no purified terephthalic acid contract price. PET prices for the month are likely to be steady to down. In Mar 2014, the monthly negotiated prices of PET were at 81.5-85.0 cents/lb stretch blow moulding (SBM) delivered (DEL), a decrease from 82.0-86.0 cents/lb SBM DEL in Feb 2014. A line graph shows spot FOB Mexico prices (cents/lb) of R-PET in Mexico from Oct 2013 until May 2014.

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