PET Resin (Bottle, Fibre & Film Grade Chips)

Bottle-grade PET chips by intrinsic viscosity for water, CSD and edible-oil preforms

PET resin is bought on intrinsic viscosity (IV), and IV tells the preform maker which bottle the chip can blow. Solid-state polymerised bottle grade at IV 0.80 ± 0.02 dl/g is the still-water and edible-oil chip; carbonated soft drink (CSD) grade runs IV 0.84–0.87 dl/g so the bottle holds pressure without creep; hot-fill and thick-wall grades sit higher again, and low-IV grades around 0.72–0.76 dl/g go into sheet and thermoformed trays. Fibre-grade chip (semi-dull or bright, IV about 0.62–0.68 dl/g) feeds polyester staple and filament spinning, and film grade feeds BOPET lines. Beyond IV, a bottle-grade datasheet carries acetaldehyde (the taste-transfer number water bottlers watch most), colour b*, moisture as packed, melting point, and copolymer content (isophthalic acid, diethylene glycol), and the grade must carry a food-contact declaration against US FDA 21 CFR and EU Regulation 10/2011. Customs splits PET at HS 3907.61 for viscosity number of 78 ml/g or higher (bottle grade) and 3907.69 for the rest. The trade statistics are wider still: UN Comtrade 2024 export declarations under HS 3907, a heading that also carries polyacetals, polyethers, epoxy resins, polycarbonate, alkyds and other polyesters, total USD 59.7 billion and 29.9 million MT across 79 reporting countries, led by China at USD 12.78 billion and 10.94 million MT (an average of USD 1,168/MT, a book weighted to PET chip), the USA at USD 5.88 billion and 1.71 million MT (USD 3,438/MT, weighted to polycarbonate and specialty resins), Korea at USD 5.57 billion and 2.73 million MT (USD 2,036/MT), Germany at USD 4.73 billion and the Netherlands at USD 3.81 billion. The China average is the closest heading-level read on commodity bottle chip; the others describe a different product mix.

The buyer is a preform and bottle maker, a water or beverage bottler running its own injection line, an edible-oil packer, a sheet and thermoforming plant, a polyester fibre spinner or a distributor, and it buys against the grade its injection and blow-moulding settings are tuned to, because a change in IV or crystallisation behaviour means re-setting dryer and moulding parameters. Bottle-grade PET moves in 1,100–1,250 kg jumbo bags or 25 kg bags on pallets, about 20–22 MT to a 40-ft container, and container freight is quoted through forwarders against the destination port. CBIL is a commodity brokerage company and brokers PET resin from the offtake traders of Asian, Middle Eastern and American producers and from trader parcels of prime material, against the producer's certificate of analysis, a food-contact declaration of compliance for bottle and sheet grades, and a certificate of origin. Several importing markets apply anti-dumping duties on PET resin from named origins, so the buyer confirms the duty position at destination before an origin is fixed. Parcels run from a single container to monthly programmes on FOB, CFR and CIF terms. Send the grade you run today, the IV and acetaldehyde limits your bottle needs, the food-contact standard your customer requires and the monthly volume, and we will work an origin and a landed number to it.

Need the ship as well? Our chartering desk prices part cargo and parcel space on LaycanDesk.

Excluded origins are not offered, including product re-exported, blended or re-processed through a third country. Every lot moves with a certificate of origin naming the producing plant, mine or grower country, and nothing is quoted before the seller and loading point are known.