James Gubera – Nylon 66 Sales Specialist
Chemco Services, Inc. Nylon 66 Off-Grade Base Resin
PA66 Wide Specification Compounds
PA66 Post Industrial (PI) Baled Fibers, PI Regrinds / PI Shred
Contact Jim Gubera at: jgubera@chemcoservices.com
Has the price of Nylon 66 resin finally reached the bottom by July 1, 2020?
First of all, I would like to thank everyone that takes the time to read the articles that I post to my blog. I appreciate you taking a few minutes out of your day to read the information, and thanks to those individuals that take the time to respond or ask for more information. If you have any questions that you would like to ask about the PA66 off grade market, then please send your question to: jgubera@chemcoservices.com
As we all know the price of Nylon 66 has been on a rollercoaster ride for the past two and a half years. Starting in late 2017 the price of PA66 was on a constant upward trend throughout 2018, and then in 2019 the Nylon 66 market gave back all of the price increases that had experienced the previous year. The price of PA66 had appeared to have finally reached a point of stability in early 2020 until we were all faced with the market destruction due to the slow down in the world economy brought on by the Covid-19 virus. Needless to say, the Covid-19 crisis has been a real disaster for everyone around the world. I don’t think that I know anyone in the plastics industry that has not been adversely impacted by the Covid-19 crisis, that is unless you are selling high melt PP to make the fiber that is used in the face mask industry, or the other plastic and polymers that are used to make personal protection equipment.
It looked like the PA66 market had finally seen the price of the off grade / wide specification resin stabilize in early 2020, and then unfortunately the market price for material softened even more in early March once the slowdown in the world economy kicked into full gear. I think the greatest impact to the Nylon 66 market has been the slowdown in the world’s auto industry, which has greatly decreased the demand for both prime and off grade material in that market. I know that PA66 is used to make many different types of products other than just auto parts, but I do believe the decrease in demand for tire cord, airbags and under the hood engine parts has had a significant negative impact on the volume of nylon that is needed in the world market. The major PA66 producers around the world have decreased the volume of material that is being made at their plants in order to try to maintain some type of balance in the supply and demand for their finished products. Due to the slowdown there has been a significant decrease in demand for the base resin that is used to make added value compounds and injection molding grades of resin, and the polymer used to make fibers for airbags and tire cord.
It appears that the price of prime PA66 is around $0.98-$1.00/lb. ($2150-$2200/mt) in the spot market, and $1.05-$1.10 for the large volume contractual buyers, and even higher prices for everyone else depending on the actual order volume for prime material. I think that the Nylon 66 producers are working hard to keep some balance to the supply and demand curve for resin in order to maintain some amount of price stability in the market. Hopefully now that July is here auto manufacturing starts picking up in the USA, Canada and Mexico, which would definitely be good for PA66 sales in the domestic market. Once the auto industry does open back up, and there is an increase in manufacturing, it may take 30-60 days for everyone to work down the inventory that is on hand before the market sees an overall increase in demand for the production of more virgin PA66 polymer. Although the USA market is somewhat insulated from PA66 imports from Asia, the Asian and European 66 producers will probably be very price aggressive in an effort to create new sales in other export markets, and to recover old business that has been lost due to the slowdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In regards to the price of PA66 off grade / wide specification resin, post-industrial (PI) fibers and PI regrinds / shred, all of these materials have seen further prices decreases as well since the beginning of this year. The price for PA66 off grade has adjusted down to levels that were being seen in the 66 market in late 2017, and prior to the continuous Nylon 66 price increases that the market experienced throughout 2018. It is somewhat interesting to see that due to the slowdown in polymer production at the plant level, and coupled with the slowdown in general manufacturing in the USA, there is now less material for sale in the domestic off grade and scrap markets. We are seeing good demand for all of the lower cost Nylon 66 feed stocks that are used to make reprocessed pellets, and added value compounds in the export market. Unfortunately demand for PA66 off grade and scrap is still very soft in the USA market, and will probably stay that way until August, and maybe even into September of this year. At the moment we can sell more of the lower cost Nylon 66 off grade / wide specification pellets and PI regrinds / shred than we can collect and recycle from the polymer plants. Although the price of PA66 off grade is lower than what we would like to see at the moment, and once the world economy picks back up, then the price of PA66 off grade and PI regrind / shred will probably increase slightly due to there being greater demand than supply for the lower cost feed stocks in the world market.
Unfortunately, the Covid-19 crisis is not over yet, so we are a still faced with several more months of continued uncertainty and weak demand in both the prime and off grade Nylon 66 markets. I wish the best of luck to everyone around the world that is out there fighting every day to survive through these challenging times brought on by the world Covid-19 pandemic. Be safe and stay healthy, so we can all survive in order to come back and be profitable once again.
CSI has the following PA66 Blended NAT HS pellets in stock and ready for shipment. The CSI Grade # 1007HS is an excellent feed stock for making PA66 glass filled pellets and added value copounds.
CSI Grade # 1007HS Blend
- PA66 Off Grade Pellets – Natural – Heat Stabilized
- There will be green / blue green (HS) pellets present in the boxes
- There will be some low melt pellets (PA66/6) present in the blend
- Can have off color pellets and/or black specs present in the blend
- Approximately 4-7% PA6/66 Copolymer Resin
- Packaged in Supersacks / Big Bags or boxes with PE Poly Liners
Contact Jim Gubera for a price quotation
Tel # +1 281-556-6481
Email: jgubera@chemcoservices.com
www.xspoly.com
Chemco Services Inc. – Nylon 66 Off Grade Specialists
#nylon66, #PA66Sales, #recycleplastic, #plasticrecycling
