As of today, Plasteurope.com is offering price forecasts for the European plastics industry. In view of the current volatility in polymer markets as well as numerous influencing factors such as raw material prices, supply and demand, and geopolitical events, plastics processors need highly accurate and up-to-date forecasts on the development of prices more than ever before in order to adapt their procurement strategies and minimise risks.

Our price forecasts, available as of 18 March at www.pieweb.com/forecasts, will initially focus on the feedstocks ethylene (C2) and propylene (C3), as they form the basis of a large number of polymers. The outlook focuses on European contracts.

To start, we will publish an outlook for next month and a directional trend for the following two months:

The Plasteurope.com Price Forecast models are based on our comprehensive in-house database, which draws on historical market data going back to 1984. Market data from our monthly polymer price reports as well as information on developments in spot markets, material availability, and relevant production capacities worldwide are also incorporated into the modeling. We obtain this data on a daily basis from our Polyglobe capacity database (www.polyglobe.net).

Thanks to calculation models with machine learning capabilities, stochastic analysis tools, and the use of industry-specific algorithms, our price forecasts achieve an accuracy of well over 90%. The calculation models are continuously evaluated and calibrated in an iterative process to ensure consistently high forecast accuracy.

The systematic expansion of our price forecast service, including for standard polymer grades, is planned for the coming months.

Julia Mihalkina
Senior Analyst Plasteurope.com price team