US polyethylene maker Dow Chemical announced Friday that it will hike its US polyethylene resin prices by 4 cents/lb in November.
The increase is effective November 1. The company noted that the November increase is on top of all previously announced price hikes.
Major polyethylene producers in the US are looking to increase polyethylene prices in October by 5 cents/lb as well. This comes on top of 3-5 cents/lb price increases seen in August and September.
Polyethylene supplies have been extremely tight since July when buying interest surged after the market had appeared to bottom out. Sellers were unable to meet the rash of inquiries and have yet to catch up. Sources said that inventory levels were were limited with sellers reporting being sold out for September.
Still there was some question as to whether the October increases would pass.
"There was a lot of product purchased in September in order to hedge against future increases like this," a market source said. "I am not sure if there is going to be enough demand out there right now to support the higher prices in October," one source said.
Spot demand continued to be suppressed by higher prices which left US values unprofitable. Sources anticipated that this could change, however, amid rising prices in both Asia and Latin America. US spot LLDPE prices were last assessed at 65-66 cents/lb FAS Houston while HDPE prices were between 63.50-66.50 cents/lb FAS Houston. LDPE values continued to hold a premium with spot values last assessed at near 69 cents/lb FAS Houston.
