Styron Europe said it plans to increase polystyrene and co-polymer grade prices by between Eur40-100/mt ($53-132/mt) in March, effective immediately, the company announced Friday.
While the company did not supply a reference price, February net PS contract prices were assessed by Platts at Eur1,440-1,450/mt FD NWE.
By grade, Styron general purpose grade polystyrene will see a Eur40/mt increase, Styron and Styron A-Tech high impact grade polystyrene a Eur80/mt hike, Magnum acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin prices a Eur100/mt rise and Tyril styrene-acrylonitrile resins a Eur45/mt increase.
The company said that the increases were needed due to "the continuous escalation" in the price of raw materials since the start of the year.
"This price increase seeks to restore adequate operating margins," the company said.
The announcement follows Styrolution Thursday saying it was increasing its GPPS gross prices for March by Eur20/mt.
The polystyrene price increases also followed the settlement of feedstock styrene and butadiene March contracts.
The Northwest European March styrene barge contract price has been fully settled at a rollover of Eur1,334/mt ($1,775/mt) FD NWE, between Shell and Synbra, Total and Styron, and Ineos suppliers Shell and Total.
On Tuesday, the initial NWE butadiene contract price for March was settled at Eur2,185/mt ($2,940/mt), an increase of Eur250/mt compared to the February CP of Eur1,935/mt.
High impact PS contains around 7%-10% of polybutadiene, and therefore a rise of Eur250/mt in PBR prices would equate to a Eur10-15/mt increase in the premium of HIPS over GPPS, assuming styrene costs were unchanged, sources said this week.
While February net PS CPs were assessed at Eur1,440-1450/mt ABS in February was assessed at Eur2,100/mt FD NWE.
