BOPP Film Prices Increase Across the Globe Amidst Rising Feedstock Polypropylene Costs

Prices of BOPP Film have increased by almost 2% in North America, 1.3% in the Asia-Pacific region, and only 0.4% in Europe in August. The overall increments in the prices of BOPP Film are attributed to increasing prices of upstream Polypropylene, which also have shown increments of approximately 4% in the USA, 0.7% in China, and only 0.2% in Germany.

Demand from the downstream packaging sectors in North America and Asia Pacific region was noticeably healthy as purchasing sentiments amongst the local populace continued to return to have an optimistic outlook as economic indicators show a moderate recovery of the American and Asian economies. Major players in the downstream FMCG sector have reported a sales growth of more than 9% in August in the American market and over 12% in the Asian market, which further pressurized demand for BOPP Films. Furthermore, demand from the electric automotive sector also took a positive outlook in the American market, with electric automotive sales witnessing a growth of approximately 18%, as reported by key automotive players, which also led to significant demand for BOPP Films as a utilization for packaging automotive parts. Production of BOPP Film was healthy, with no disruptions reported in the supply chain system. Moreover, the CPI for food and beverage increased by 0.738 in July, with further appreciations being anticipated as consumer expenditure in food and beverage continues to have a positive outlook on the American economy, with most of the economic indicators signaling an improvement in economic conditions. Furthermore, increments in the prices of BOPP Film in the future are anticipated as prices of crude oil are expected to rise as Saudia Arabia limits production.

In the Asian market, prices of BOPP Film have increased marginally even though demand from downstream FMCG industry was healthy. This was largely due to restrictive orders placed to the manufacturers by suppliers and distributors as ample stocks of unused inventory still prevailed. A marginally bullish trend was primarily attributed to the hikes in upstream Polypropylene prices. Restrictive purchasing sentiment from the downstream packaging industry largely prevailed, leading to a wait-and-see mentality amongst distributors. Export orders for international demand are also low, with few orders of import being placed by importing South Korea, India, and Russia. The existence of large amounts of unused stocks of BOPP Film consequently led to low production, as evidenced by a contraction in the manufacturing PMI of China from 54.1 in July to 51.8 in August.

The magnitude of increment in the prices of BOPP Film in the European market was recorded to be the least amongst the above-discussed regions. Trade activities have resumed moderately in Europe, with a healthy demand for BOPP Films rising from the UK as inflationary rates for food and beverage declined by almost 2.5%, with further depreciations being anticipated. However, in Germany, the economic situation cast a negative outlook with the manufacturing activities further contracted, as evidenced by the decline of PMI by a further 5 points in August. Moreover, energy costs were recorded to be up by 11%, which further increased production costs and can also be responsible for the inclination in the prices of BOPP Film.