Chemicals, Polymers

February 13, 2024

Platts proposes to start publishing virgin/recycled PP, PS and ABS spreads in Europe

Platts, part of S&P Global Commodity Insights, is proposing to start publishing databased spreads between virgin and recycled prices for polypropylene, polystyrene and ABS markets in Europe, effective April 2.

The proposal comes following market feedback of shifting consumption trends in all three markets based on the cost competitiveness of recycled or virgin polymers, and ongoing desire for increased pricing transparency between fossil based and sustainable plastics markets. The proposed new symbols would be derived from the following Platts assessments:

Recycled Basis Symbol Virgin Basis Symbol
R-ABS black pellet spot price - CRABS01 General Purpose ABS weekly spot - AAQCT00
Natural Polypropylene pellets daily spot assessment - ARPEB00 Homopolymer PP daily spot assessment - AALUR00
Black Recycled Polystyrene pellets spot price - RPSBN00 General purpose polystyrene weekly spot assessment - AALUN00

The new spreads are proposed to be published on a daily basis for R-PP, and a weekly basis (Wednesday) for R-ABS and R-PS, in line with the frequency of virgin assessments in these markets.

The calculated R-PS and R-ABS spreads will be derived from the price published on a Wednesday in each respective recycled market.

Please send all comments, feedback and questions to petchems@spglobal.com and pricegroup@spglobal.com by Feb. 27, 2024.

For written comments, please provide a clear indication if comments are not intended for publication by Platts for public viewing. Platts will consider all comments received and will make comments not marked as confidential available upon request.

Platts is part of S&P Global Commodity Insights.