The PET and PTA market in the Americas is experiencing tight supplies since last year when M&G shut its plants and declared bankruptcy. It has resulted in reduced supply of PTA and PET in the Americas.
This year, fire broke out at Alpek's (Petrotemex) 1m tonne/year PTA plant in Altamira, Mexico that is further expected to disrupt the already-tight downstream PET markets in the region. The fire affected both the units that produce 500,000 tonnes/year each.
Although the exact impact of the fire on the PTA production is not known, the industry expects some impact on the downstream, especially when PTA is in short supply already.
The Alpek plant supplies PET resins to M&G plant, DAK Americas' Pearl River site in Mississippi and various other plants in Mexico and South America. It also exports to European polyester producers.
With the takeover of M&G assets, production is slowly resuming - Far Eastern New Century (FENC) has re-started the Apple Grove resin plant in West Virginia while Indorama is taking over plants in Brazil. Despite these resumption, there is still uncertainty in the region’s PET and PTA supplies.
More about PET and PTA market disruptions will be discussed at
CMT’s 16th LAPET (Latin America PET Packaging, Applications & Recycling) Summit on 15-16 October, 2018 in Mexico City.
For
enquiries in English, contact Grace Oh at
grace@cmtsp.com.sg or call +65 6346 9147.
For
enquiries in Spanish, contact Tanya Tardan at
tanya@cmtsp.com.sg or call +52 55 71573697