US HDPE blow molding export prices fall $88/mt

US HDPE spot export blow molding prices dropped $88/mt (4 cents/lb) to $1,157/mt (52.5 cents/lb) FAS Houston from Wednesday as producers sought to get rid of length to prevent heavy domestic price erosion, sources said.

Earlier in the week there were export blow molding deals at 56.5 cents/lb FAS Houston but at the time domestic prices were only heard to be down 3 cents/lb in October. By the end of the week, domestic prices were talked down 5 cents/lb as demand had slumped.

At $1,157/mt FAS Houston, the blow molding could go to deepsea markets in Asia, or South America.

Traders had expected lower export prices as they saw domestic demand faltering, and believed producers would use the export market to balance supply in an effort to stem losses in the larger volume domestic market.

Domestic blow molding prices were in a wide range above and below 65 cents/lb delivered depending on the volume of material a converter consumes.