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There are no trading activities in China as players are away for Tomb-sweeping holiday. Market shall resume on 9 April 2018.

SOUTHEAST ASIA

• Limited offers on the final trading day of the week
• Import homo-PP seems to attract better interest than PE

Polypropylene (PP)

There are very limited new offers on the final trading day of the week though it is reported in Vietnam that import homo-PP is attracting better buying interest than PE. Several international traders informed to have achieved a satisfactory number of deals for Middle Eastern homo-PP at $1230-1240/ton CIF Vietnam, LC AS term this week and would only resume offering in the coming week. However, the market is not willing to accept higher price levels, which might limit supplier’s ability to implement any large hike.

In Indonesia, major local trader lifted homo-PP yarn prices by $10/ton day on day to $1270/ton FD Indonesia, cash term after managed to deplete some inventories in the previous trading session. Indonesia market might not see any major improvement in the near term, as converters have stocked up lengthy inventories for the Ramadan preparation. Having said so, it is important to note that demand in China is recovering, which could lend regional and international suppliers sufficient support to keep market steady in the coming week. “The market is anchored. Any drastic hike is very unlikely, especially without the support from the demand side. A rebound is more realistic after the Ramadan celebration during mid of June,” a market source said.  

Polyethylene (PE)

Regional buyers are very reluctant to build high inventory for import PE cargoes and softening upstream ethylene market is making the condition worse. Supply is not as tight as it was before and buyers prefer to monitor the state of demand in the nearby China market in the post-holiday period before making any decision.

“Trading activities slow down a little compared to earlier this week. We still hold on to the idea of implementing small to moderate hike on the next price announcement, however, a little concern on the market acceptance. At the moment, we have temporarily suspended all offering,” an international trader said.