PP producers managed to reverse the trend of falling prices in June with notations rising by E30/tonne on average. This compares with producer plans to raise prices by E40-50/tonne. However, contracts were settling at between E40-50/tonne towards the end of the month as sellers sought to discourage pre-buying.
The PP sector tightened last month due to a number of unscheduled plant outages. These included force majeure being called at the Ineos plants at Lille, in France and Geel, in Belgium, and the Sabic copolymer plant at Geleen, in the Netherlands.
This month, producers will be asking for higher prices once more. The extent of the rise will depend on the Q3 propylene contract price settlement.