Economy
Bottle-grade US polyethylene terephthalate (PET) demand is currently in a seasonal lull and is expected to continue that way through the end of January and into February.
However, demand is expected to pick up in March with healthy orders already for the month, according to market participants.
Typically, demand picks up ahead of peak season which runs from Memorial Day at the end of May to Labor Day at the beginning of September, but in recent years, demand has been slow to pick up before the beginning of peak season. Historically, an increase in temperatures pushes consumers to purchase more bottled beverages.
PET resins can be broadly classified into bottle, fibre or film grade, named according to the downstream applications. Bottle grade resin is the most commonly traded form of PET resin and it is used in bottle and container packaging through blow molding and thermoforming. Fibre grade resin goes into making polyester fibre, while film grade resin is used in electrical and flexible packaging applications.
PET can be compounded with glass fibre for the production of engineering plastics.
DAK Americas, Indorama, Nan Ya Plastics Corporation and Far Eastern New Century (FENC) are PET producers in the US.
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