Published on October 13, 2014

Crude prices continue to doom in international market.  Last week crude prices closed at $85.82/bbl and Brent at $90.21/bbl. Plummeting of crude prices by more than $15 in span 4 months and has affected the global market for all the petrochemicals. Prices of all the petroleum by-products have slashed significantly in recent weeks. The polyester no more remains unaffected by this change. It has been trying to adjust in the changing scenario but could not hold its prices.

Slowdown in the Para Xylene prices has been the major concern for the polyester industry. This chemical is downstream product for MEG. Moreover in a week Para Xylene is the only chemical going through a complete see-saw ride. Last week prices declined by more than USD 80/MTS. This on large has affected the MEG prices in Asian market. CFR China prices for MEG declined by more than $80 in last two weeks. In the third week of October, CFR China prices were assessed around USD 765/MTS. Again there has been major blow in PTA prices as well. This has been the lowest range for MEG in last two years. This has badly affected the polyester, fiber and textile market.  

According to experts this slowdown in crude prices will continue to dominate the global market.  The polyester manufacturers will experience slowdown in profit margins due to per-locating of crude prices.