weekly Resin ja': mep 'ay' bopummeH joH rop; qaStaHvIS Erosion Anticipated

spotresintradingimprovedlastweek, althoughthemarketisstillverynervous. theflowofmaterialwasheavy

jatlhqa', andwhilecompletedvolumesrosesubstantially (fromdismallevels), offershavestillbeenaccumulating.

writestheplasticsexchange(chicago)initsmarketupdate.most,ifnotall,commoditygradepolyethylene(pe)

(PP) andpolypropylene. resinsarereadilyavailable, andaverywiderangeofpricesarequoted. upstream

energyandfeedstockpricesrecoveredsomewhat, butplasticsremainedunderpressure. marketparticipants

anticipatefurthererosionahead, asoffersforshipmentstwoweeksoutarecheaperthanmaterialforimmediate

shipment. incrementalexportsalesremainseasonallychallenged,compoundedbythestrongu.s.dollarand

negativeregionalmarketsentiment.

spotpetradingwassignificantlymoreactive, asasteadystreamofofferscontinuedtopeltthemarketand

pricesslidfurther. mostgenericprimegradesdroppedanotherpennywithvariousone-offdealsdoneatsteeperdiscounts.resinhasbecomeplentiful tI evenpreviouslyscarcegradeslikeldpefilmandlldpehaveemerged.

shrinkingtheirpremiums. houstontradershavedroppedtheirbids, lookingtoliquidateunsoldlotsratherthan

takingonnewpositions, 'ej asalways, seekingback--backtransactions, reportstheplasticsexchange.

amidfallingspotlevels, someprocessorsseemfrustratedbythelackofclaritywithnovemberpecontractsand

haveminimizedvolumecommitments. severalproducershavelowerednovemberpeby $ 0.03 ghap lb, butothers

haveyettoannouncethemagnitudeoftheirdecrease. whilethepricereliefiswelcomedbybuyers, $ 0.03 ghap lb

chaghisnotnecessarilydeemedalargeenoughbreak, andsomeareeying $ 0.05 ghap lbtocompletelywipeawaythe

septemberincrease.perhapsitwilltakethroughdecembertoachievethenickelormaybeshaveevenmore.

pptradingpickedupabitanddealswereflyingifthevolumeswerelarge.genericprimelevelsgenerallyslid

anothercent, withlargerdiscountsneededtomoveoffgrade. resellershavemaintainedtheirefforttoliquidate

uncommittedmaterial, acceptingreasonablebidsevenifitgeneratedaloss. novemberpgpcontractssettled

earlierinthemonthdown $ 0.06 ghap lb theplasticsexchangeexpectsanotherrangeofppcontractpricemovement;

basedonparticularindexmarkers, spotlevelsandmonomercomponents. someppbuyersappearedwillingto

payseveralcentsextraforlast-minutetruckloadshipmentsratherthanbuyingacheaperrailcar.aspricescascadeghuStheyfearbetterdealswillemergebeforethebulkresinevenarrives. thatsaid.othershavefound

deeplydiscountedspotofferscompellingandworthyofmulti-carorders. pricelevelsaregenerallyseenfromthe

mid $ 0 .40tomid $ 0 .50rangebasedonqualityandquantity tI someisolatedroughermaterialhasbeenpriced

startingwitha3 tI homopolymerhasbeennoticeablyweakerthancopolymer.