The USA Thermoplastic Elastomers Prices Fall, Despite Growing Automotive Sector Globally

The recent price assessment shows that the global Thermoplastic Elastomers (TPE) market has witnessed overall stability despite a surprising rebound in downstream consumer industries. The market of TPE is in high demand, driven by downstream industries, including the automotive, construction sector and medical care being the largest consumers. Despite having rapidly growing demand for the automotive sector globally, the price trend of US TPE declined in the H2 of June 2023. Interestingly, the Asian and European markets faced a stable pricing trend for TPE, followed by the previous month.

As per the recent estimation, the US TPE prices have experienced a downtrend of 2.2% during H2 of June to settle at 4400 USD/tonne Thermoplastic Vulcanizate (TPV) FOB Houston (USA). The sector, suppressed during the pandemic, was observed to have a rebound of around 1% m-o-m basis. Despite a slowdown in the US economy, the demand for housing and the construction sector is growing due to the increasing housing rent. Additionally, the buying sentiments of the average US mid-30 population influenced the demand for the construction sector. Despite the increasing penetration of plastics in automotive, the application of TPE in US health care fell by 2.1%, along with the potential rise in interest rate by Fed, which affected TPE's overall pricing trend. Further, crude material styrene remained bearish amid producers offering lower prices to unload the material in the US.

Germany, one of the largest traders of TPE, has experienced a stable price trend over months amid no significant changes in downstream demand to settle at 3950 USD/tonne Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE) FOB Antwerp (Belgium). The rapid demand for electric vehicles across Europe is influencing the TPE market. The balanced demand for TPE from the downstream industry overpowers the rolling stress of recession. A stable supply for TPE with existing available stocks influenced the prices to remain steady.

The prices of TPE have remained firm and unaltered during H2 of June 2023, amid stable demand from downstream, influencing the prices to hover at 3550 USD/tonne Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU) FOB Shanghai (China). As per the data, Mainland China's construction sector remains in decline amid economic slowdowns. However, new vehicle sales in China surged 28% during June, rebounding the demand. Associated demand from both sectors and low-cost labor influenced the prices to be stable in China.

As per ChemAnalyst, the market for TPE is expected to remain stable in the near future. Despite the fact that the global elastomers market has been facing uncertainties, downstream industries have witnessed an unexpected rebound. However, analyzing the market in-depth, this growth appears to be driven by suppressed sales for a long time.