The reaction to falling feedstock costs has been slightly muted in terms of polymer prices, but the downward pressure continues.

The impacts of a limited agreement between the UK and the US, along with a major de-escalation of the tariff war between the China and the US are yet to be seen, but consumer confidence has been dented and will not recover easily.

Many converters of standard polymers appear to be contemplating the opportunity to secure low value stocks, prior to a turn-around in market conditions. Polymer producers appear to be chocking output rates due to operating losses, high stock levels and poor demand. It may still take some time for market conditions to become more favourable due to abundance of product and weak economic sentiment.

The packaging market has seen similar downward pressures and prices for both BOPP and PET film are now at the lowest levels we have seen in the previous 5 years. However, the recent fire at the Jindal plant in India has started to have some immediate impact on pricing levels for both BOPP and PET especially for manufacturers based in that country. We therefore wait to see if this will be a temporary spike or something longer term.