It appears the tide could be turning on the market for PET recyclate. After months of slight price hikes for flakes and recycled pellet, driven by solid demand linked to the summertime beverage and barbecue season, some market participants are starting to predict the market will normalise with stable prices in the coming weeks.
In April, demand for clear and coloured flakes was still good and recyclers took advantage of the opportunity to raise prices. However, the price gap between recyclates and virgin material has widened significantly, as primary PET became cheaper again and cheap imports are also available.
Arisings of post-consumer bottles in April were described as decent. There were some logistics problems due to the bank and school holidays around Easter, when many lorry drivers were on holiday leave. Market participants expect single-use beverage bottle arisings to increase now following the typical seasonal pattern, which could lead to price reductions in June/July.
Read the full monthly report on the market for post-consumer PET bottles from deposit-return systems (DRSs) in Germany and access price change tables and graphing tools here:
