Indorama Ventures will increase the price on all grades of polyethylene terephthalate resin by 2 cents/lb ($44/mt), effective May 1, according to a letter sent to customers and obtained by Platts.
The company cited "the continued increase in raw material costs and volatility" for the increase.
The increase is also applicable supplies from Indorama subsidiaries Alphapet, Starpet and Auriga Polymers, the company said in the letter, sent Friday.
The increase marks the third straight month of price hikes after March rose 2 cents/lb and April was up 2.5 cents/lb, sources said. Increases for March and April were also based on raw material price hikes, sources said.
However, sources had initially anticipated PET pricing for May would be mostly stable to slightly higher than April.
Feedstock monoethylene glycol prices were announced 2 cents/lb lower for May, sources said. Feedstock paraxylene spot pricing was last assessed Friday at $740/mt FOB US Gulf, up $10 from the end of March. The April US PX contract settled up 2 cents/lb from March at 40 cents/lb, and downstream purified terephthalic acid prices for April were set at 41.27 cents/lb, up 1.54 cent/lb from March, sources said.
April PET contracts were assessed Wednesday at $1,499-$1,521/mt (68-69 cents/lb), up 2.5 cents from March on higher feedstocks. The production of a pound of PET requires 0.87 lb of PTA and 0.34 lb of MEG.
Indorama's increase follows an increase of 2 cents/lb announced by Dak Americas and Nan Ya.
