Polybutylene Terephthalate (PBT) prices were rising consistently for the past week but the rise in the prices came to a halt as the buying sentiment slowed. Some players in the market are expecting the recently weakened demand to persist throughout the fourth quarter. 

Prices were steady at USD 3.10- USD 3.20 per Kg in Northeast Asia. The demand weakened because the buyers were anticipating that the price rise in the feedstock Butanediol (BDO) might continue the uptrend after a bullish run in June. 

East China spot BDO prices rose from Yuan 16,450 per tonne in June to more than Yuan 30,000 per tonne in the first half of August. The price has corrected recently due to the halt in the buying activity. 

With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and related constraints and high prices of the feedstock BDO coupled with the shortage of semiconductor chips which has continued to constrain the automotive sector, the market players are anticipating that the weakened demand will continue throughout the fourth quarter. 

PBT is a Thermoplastic Polyester Resin which has applications as a high performance engineering plastic. It has application in automotive industry, extrusion moulding products, and electronics. It has superior material characteristics such as heat and chemical resistance. The growing automotive industry is projected to drive the demand of PBT in the long term.