Asia Daily PP and PE Overview 18 October 2018

SOUTHEAST ASIA 

• Import market hold relatively steady 
• Local Indonesia continue facing tightness for some grades 

Polypropylene (PP)

Import homo-PP market holds relatively steady and apparently, yarn grade at price below the $1250/ton has disappeared from the market. A major Saudi Arabia maker opens homo-PP offers to Vietnam at $1260/ton CIF, LC AS while leaving no room for negotiation.

“Buyers have already accepted this price level earlier this week and with the supply continue tightening, we plan to hold firm on the offers. Market is having the support to move higher despite the recent drop in upstream propylene costs,” an international trader commented.  

Polyethylene (PE)

The focus in Indonesia market remains in the local ground, where continued depreciating Rupiah against the US dollar and the expiry of the BMDTP scheme encourage buyers to source materials domestically instead. “This has led to tighter supply condition for a certain grade here,” a local trader said.

Indonesian buyers expect the Rupiah to further depreciate in the near term, which in turn would push local prices higher. As a result, many players tend to procure extra quantity even though the on-hand inventories are sufficed until the end of December.