Malaysian maker announced May PP offers to Indonesia unchanged; HDPE nosedived

A new PP and PE price list for May loading from a major Malaysian producer bifurcated sharply – a development market participants attributed to the attempt to reflect the current conditions in the local Indonesian market. While PP offers are unchanged from the previous month, HDPE prices nosedived given the more comfortable availability.    

The producer’s latest price list and changes month on month are shown in the following table:

As reported earlier, the local HDPE film market in Indonesia is now struggling with soft demand and higher availability compared to other grades. Even at the time of this report, spot HDPE film in the local distribution market is traded below LLDPE film. 

“And that is why it is challenging for overseas suppliers to maintain a firm stance on their HDPE film offers to Indonesia, especially with the current exchange rate issues,” a buyer commented.

Note that the producer is currently carrying out maintenance shutdown at three PP lines with a combined capacity of 640,000 tons/year from 22 April to 3 June 2024. The stable pricing decision for PP cargoes primarily reflected the lack of inventory pressure. On the other hand, buyers actively seeking more competitive parcels from other origins including Vietnam and China.