Chinese suppliers trimmed export homo-PP offers amid dwindling demand, cloudy outlook

Chinese suppliers sharply reduced export offers for homo-PP this week in response to persistently weak demand and an increasingly uncertain market outlook. The price cuts sparked some interest from international buyers, but higher shipping costs have deterred any immediate deals.

The latest export offers and changes from the previous price announcement are as follows:

Despite an early-month rally in local markets, trading sentiment in China’s PP sector has steadily declined. Industry experts believe that without more robust economic support from the government, the polyolefin sector could face continued stagnation. This concern is exacerbated by market participants' caution over the potential impact of the upcoming US presidential election.

"The Asian PP market lacks the fundamental demand to sustain previous price levels," a representative from a PDH-based PP producer told CommoPlast. "Converters are grappling with weak end-product orders, and unless demand improves, further price cuts seem unavoidable."

Meanwhile, several Chinese producers, who had previously prioritized domestic sales, have resumed exporting to take advantage of the depreciating Yuan against the US dollar.

“But we are facing renewed shipping challenges. It became increasingly difficult to secure shipping space as ocean liners adjusted capacity to meet the lower demand. We were warned that rates from China to Indonesia could hit $40/ton in the coming week,” another producer reported. 

Written by: Kat Yun Yun

Edited by: Rochelle Nguyen