There is too much availability and not enough demand to support increases.
PBT prices remain weak in Europe in Q4 as downward pressure persists due to oversupply.
Polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) prices have already fallen during the past 12 months and now look set to reach new lows.
While demand has increased in line with all other engineering resins, PBT supply in Europe is plentiful. This is keeping the downward pressure on prices in Q4.
Therefore, it is unlikely that sellers will be able to secure price increases on many accounts.
Even if PBT demand recovered since the summer, many buyers are still operating substantially below pre-pandemic levels.
Moreover, competitive Asian imports are fuelling the oversupply of PBT in Europe.
As such, the current market weakness is helping many buyers achieve lower prices.
PBT’s main market segments are industrial and automotive, both of which are recovering but still struggling from the lows reached in the spring and early summer.
Europe is still an attractive market for Asian companies and therefore competition is intense.
Market feedback so far suggests that there is more of a chance that prices will roll over or decrease from Q3 to Q4 rather than increase.