Rising costs of various products amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine encouraged European styrene sellers to announce fresh hikes in the market during early May. Having emerged USD 53-96/ton above April levels, styrene prices hit record highs, but the upturn has lost speed. While smaller increases of around USD 53-64/ton have passed on deals so far, some sellers have started to report rollovers in a few cases.

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) Prices were hovering around USD 3780/ton-USD 4040/ton, Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Compounding Grade FD Hamburg In Germany, with a week-to-week escalation of around 0.1%. Imports from Asian countries such as China remained restricted due to high freight costs and COVID lockdown in most provinces, making imported materials unsustainable and uncompetitive. Trinseo, a global materials company and manufacturer of plastics and latex binders, intends to raise PS Grade (GPPS) and Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Resins prices by USD 95/MT and USD 64/MT, respectively.

Crude oil and Natural gas volatility drastically affected the direct upstream market. Feedstock prices have been robust owing to intense cost pressure from upstream crude oil. Higher demand sentiments from downstream electronic appliances and the automotive sector are causing Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene prices to increase. Lower inventory rates and high freight charges due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine support the market trend.

Rail and road transport from Asia to Europe have been severely hampered because of the ongoing crisis between Ukraine and Russia. Players concurred that logistics delays remain an issue amid a lack of truck drivers. Delivery delays failed to catalyse boosting sales due to slowing demand. This war has put inflationary pressure on several commodities, and the petrochemical and polymer markets have been in the eye of the storm of the continuing crisis in Europe. Upstream spot styrene prices have followed an uptrend since March, while a new round of hikes for May pushed prices to a different level.

Further hikes appear to be seeing partial acceptance as some buyers prefer to skip acquiring at higher levels. Disconfirming demand conditions were cited as the main reason behind the partial acceptance of May hikes. This also explains the sellers’ more minor hike requests than the styrene at the beginning. In a few cases, offers were reduced to rollovers, but participants reported that this had little effect on purchasing appetite. Costs in the spot market trade at a premium to the contract market, which keeps purchases in the former market to a bare minimum, and many sellers stand firm on their prices depending on their stock levels.

As per Chem Analyst, Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene traders are cautious as prices will fall at some point, but it’s hard to tell when due to the extreme volatility of the styrene market. Yet, suppliers could manage to take methodical budgeting from their provisioners this month as they withstood the tight April apportionment.