Print

CHINA

• Import offers continue to journey south
• Trading activities mostly take place at the lower end of the overall price range  

Polypropylene (PP)

Total PP and PE inventories at domestic major producers’ warehoused fell 15,000 tons to approximate 980,000 tons as of 20 March 2018. Local market remains bloated and coupled with sloppy futures trading, sellers continue to offer up to CNY100/ton ($15/ton) discount to attract buying interest. “We are losing confidence in the near term outlook given several events that would disrupt trading activities in April. Tightened bank credit is hurting converters’ ability to maneuverer the purchasing activities,” a trader said.

Even with the latest cuts traders implemented on Indian and Russian cargoes, the transaction is thin. “The price gap between domestic and import cargoes are getting wider with overseas parcels taking the premium. Imports are not competitive, hence we are not focusing on China at the moment,” an international trader commented.

Polyethylene (PE)

Joining the latest downtrend in import PE market is major producers from Thailand and Qatar. Both makers announced fresh weekly offers with up to $40/ton reduction on LLDPE film, and yet buyers are not aggressive in scouting for cargoes. Bloated inventories in the domestic market resulted from slower than expected recovery in demand undermines the positive effect from strengthening ethylene prices. “We decided to replenish some Qatari cargoes given the competitiveness. Thai maker is very firm on the offers, however, we do expect some discounts to emerge if deals were to achieve,” a buyer said.  

SOUTHEAST ASIA

• April shipment offers emerged at the stable to softer levels
• Market sentiment remains weak across the region

Polypropylene (PP)

Major Saudi Arabia cuts import homo-PP offers for the third time in two weeks to Vietnam, bringing latest price list to $1260/ton for yarn and $1250/ton for injection grade, all based on CIF Vietnam, LC AS term. Deals have been achieved with an additional discount of $15-20/ton at $1240/ton for yarn and $1235/ton for injection, with the same term.

However, buyers are not aggressive, instead, more on catching the bottom strategy.
“We are not very optimistic about the medium-term outlook and May and June is traditional low demand season, which also clashes with Ramadan month this year. We are taking a very cautious stance as there are still some rooms for additional reduction in the coming days, and hence we only purchase a small quantity this time,” a buyer commented.

Polyethylene (PE)

Major international and regional producers started opening new offers for April shipment, mostly at the softer level compared to last month. Major Saudi producer slashed prices by $40/ton to $1410/ton for HDPE film and $1240-1250/ton for LLDPE film, all based on CIF Vietnam, LC AS term. Buyers are not excited about the reductions claiming sluggish demand condition in the local ground that drags domestic prices lower over the past week. Many are planning to place bids at $50/ton lower than price list. A buyer commented, “It is the financial year for many Middle Eastern suppliers, hence we received new offers earlier than usual. This also means that buyers are having better negotiation power, especially when Chinese buyers are not having the appetite.”