US polypropylene contract prices for March fell 6 cents/lb ($132/mt) to 82-83 cents/lb ($1,808-$1,830/mt) for homopolymer injection grade on a delivered-via-railcar basis, sources said Monday.
The decline was the result of a similar drop in contract polymer-grade propylene prices, which settled at 73 cents/lb delivered, and effectively offset a 6-cent/lb increase realized by producers in February.
The polypropylene market follows PGP contracts closely as the majority of its contracts run on a monomer-plus basis.
The decrease follows back-to-back months of hikes that totaled 22 cents/lb, making domestic polypropylene contract prices for February the highest since June 2011's 91-92 cents/lb, according to Platts data.
The sharp increases in January and February scared away buyers, resulting in weaker demand to start the year, sources said.
Talk in the market has centered around the possibility of further decreases for April, leading some to believe an uptick in demand might not materialize in March.
"Customers are timing purchases to come back in April," a source with a major distributor said.
