Asia Daily PP and PE Overview – 18 December 2018Asia Daily PP and PE Overview – 18 December 2018 |
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SOUTHEAST ASIA
Polypropylene (PP)
Major producers from India and Saudi Arabia lifted import homo-PP offers to Vietnam by $10-20/ton from last week despite the soft purchasing interest in this market. Buyers here have a strong doubt on the sustainability of the current firming trend citing the plunge in the energy complex
Another reason for buyers to be cautious is the continued presence of competitive duties-free cargoes from Southeast Asian and Chinese suppliers. In fact, several deals for Chinese homo-PP yarn are seen at $1090/ton CIF Vietnam this week. “The firming trend would definitely be held back to a certain extent,” a buyer added.
Polyethylene (PE)
Negotiation for January shipment PE cargoes are going on, however, Southeast Asian buyers are confident about getting a larger discount this time. In the meantime, sources are watching out for the next movement in the regional LDPE film market as PTT Thailand keeps its 300,000 tons/year plant shut.
“We purchased Malaysian LDPE film at $1050/ton CIF Vietnam, LC AS. This is a very competitive price level, though the available quantity is not large. Other traders are re-exporting cargoes to Thailand, which might support the local sentiment,” a trader informed.
On a positive note, domestic demand in Indonesia is improving as buyers decided to make additional buys before going off for the holiday.
Detailed information on PP and PE are on Polymer Prices section.
Country
China
Indonesia
Vietnam