Market
Availability of European polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) is at a healthy level as demand has softened and imports from Asia can support buyers' requirements.
Offtake is stable to soft as is typical for the summer period.
September consumption is likely to strengthen, but sources believe demand will not be as healthy as it was earlier in the year.
Asia
The lukewarm demand that was first seen in the Chinese domestic market exerted downward pressure on southeast Asian prices.
Demand for general purpose grade and optical grade PMMA continued to be lacklustre. Despite the poor demand since May, most northeast Asian PMMA producers are running at full tilt, but said they are looking at reducing their operating rates in the near future to reduce inventory pressure.
Looking forward, most market participants said prices are expected to gain stability in September and may bottom out from October, depending on the pace of demand recovery for optical grade PMMA.
Feedstock MMA
The methyl methacrylate (MMA) spot price has moved down by €50/tonne at the high end to €2,150-2,300/tonne FD NWE. Business took place this week at €2,250/tonne FD NWE for one truckload of material. Demand for spot material is slightly softer as is expected for this time of year, but is expected to improve in September. August prices are likely to come down further as business slows.
Monthly contracts for July are valued at €2,280-2,420/tonne FD NWE. Price movements from June varied from a rollover to increases of up to €50/tonne.
Some buyers are now expecting price reductions on August monthly contracts because of weaker demand, better availability and lower acetone costs.
($1 = €0.70)
This week on ICIS ( www.icis.com):
28/07/2011 10:02 S Korea’s DMMA to shut PMMA plant in mid-August for turnaround
28/07/2011 09:51 Sumitomo Chemical Singapore to shut No 1 PMMA line next week
27/07/2011 08:13 Taiwan's Formosa restart plans may get delayed by fire
