Polycarbonate Prices Surge in Europe as Automotive Demand Increase

Germany: The price of Polycarbonate began to rise from the beginning of the third quarter of 2023, and it continued to increase in the first week of August as a result of strong demand from the downstream automotive manufacturing industries. Bisphenol A is the crucial feedstock for the production of Polycarbonate; their continuous upward pattern allowed manufacturers to incline the prices of Polycarbonate material in the European market. As per ChemAnalyst data, the cost of Polycarbonate was hovering around USD 4100/MT on an FD Hamburg basis with a weekly inclination of 0.5% during the week ending 04th August 2023.

In July 2023, the German auto sector continued to improve, propelled by rising sales of electric vehicles as supply chain issues continued to disappear. Although car sales have increased since the beginning of the year, they are still far below the level seen in 2019 before the coronavirus outbreak. Electric vehicle registrations, which made up 20% of all registrations in July and increased by roughly 70% year over year, were a key factor in the market's growth. According to the market participant, automakers' gradual accomplishment of their backlog of orders, brought on by supply shortages that reduced production, was the primary factor behind July's gain. However, the price of Polycarbonate rose by 2.5% in July 2023.

A total of 2,43,277 automobiles were registered in the largest economy in Europe in July 2023, an increase of 18% over the same period the previous year. The industry is slowly recovering from supply chain problems, particularly those involving semiconductors that had hindered client delivery.

German automakers, which include stalwarts of the industry like Volkswagen and BMW, manufactured 3,00,300 vehicles in July, a 20 percent increase over the same month last year, according to the VDA group.

The price of Polycarbonate has been predicted to rise in the upcoming weeks, and the German market's downstream automotive industries have room to increase demand. On the strength of increased orders and the anticipated improvement in the availability of its premium automobiles, German Automakers raised the projection for 2023. According to industry analysts, the demand for Polycarbonate in the automotive sector is expected to be steadily stable due to the ongoing growth of the European automobile manufacturing sector. Suppliers may raise their prices due to the increased demand for Polycarbonate in the market. These can lead to higher quotations for Polycarbonate products. Additionally, analysts have cautioned that the German economy, which is deteriorating due to stagnant growth, high inflation, and rising interest rates, will impact the market.