Plastics and rubber major Styron plans to raise polycarbonate prices in Europe from March 7 by Eur270/mt ($356/mt) due to unsustainably thin margins and feedstock cost increases, it said Thursday.
"For the polycarbonate industry, 2012 will go down in history books as an extremely turbulent year, characterized by historically low and unacceptable margins," Styron Europe's polycarbonate product market manager Nicolas Joly said in a statement.
The price increase was influenced by a sense that the polycarbonate demand/supply balance had improved through 2012 and in 2013 sales were expected to increase significantly, according to Joly.
"On the domestic front, European demand for PC is expected to grow along with the GDP. Internationally, export demands from Asia are also growing, and new growth areas have been identified in emerging regions."
As a result, pricing needed to be restored in order to enable Styron to supply these markets, Joly said in the statement.
Platts does not assess polycarbonate prices but, since the beginning of the year, phenol spot prices -- one of the principal feedstocks used in the production of polycarbonate -- have dropped by Eur110/mt to be assessed at Eur1,295/mt FD NWE, according to Platts data on February 19.
Throughout 2012, phenol prices increased by Eur360/mt to be assessed at Eur1,345/mt late December.
The feedstock increases were driven by the rise in benzene contract prices, which increased by Eur413/mt to Eur1,084/mt FD NWE.
Polycarbonate is a thermoplastic polymer that is used in the production of automotive, electronic, aircraft and security components.
