The prices of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) are expected to fall in the USA owing to weaker prices of styrene monomer and weak downstream demand. The prices of ABS experienced rise last month with the prices being USD 3050 per tonne in October rising to USD 3060 per tonne in November first week. The prices were rising due to supply constraints of acrylonitrile amid strong demand.

The prices of styrene monomer have been declining in the US owing to the ease in the supply and higher inventory levels. This decline in feedstock price has affected the prices of ABS plastic which majorly used styrene as a feedstock.

ABS is an opaque engineering thermoplastic formed by the copolymerization of Acrylonitrile, Butadiene, and Styrene typically used for injection molding applications. Usually, it is composed of half the amount of Styrene with the remaining balance divided between Acrylonitrile and Butadiene. ABS possesses low production cost, excellent toughness, temperature stability and solvent resistance properties superior to those of other engineering polymers such as high impact polystyrene.

The three monomers involved in the formation of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene play different roles in the performance of material-while Acrylonitrile provides chemical and thermal stability to the polymer, Butadiene enhances its toughness and strength and Styrene imparts a nice and glossy finish.

ABS finds applications across various consumer products such as housing appliances (refrigerator, washing machine etc.), luggage, camera bodies, battery cases, packing crates, radio, various furniture parts, protective headgear and musical instruments etc. The global demand for ABS stood at 10.62 million tonnes in 2020 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.74% during the upcoming years till 2030.

As per ChemAnalyst, “the prices of ABS which have been rising since the past month are expected to fall due to falling styrene prices in the USA. Other reason for a price decline is the stagnant demand from the automotive sector.”