Asia Daily PP and PE Overview 18 July 2018

SOUTHEAST ASIA 

• Limited movement in the regional PP market
• Thai maker cuts HDPE film offers to Vietnam, August outlook holds soft

Polypropylene (PP)

There is very limited movement in the import PP market across the region as both buyers and sellers are adopting conservative stance to gauge the near-term trend. However, the possibility of further price reduction becomes stronger.

“We are still carrying nearly 50 per cent of July shipment allocation for Middle Eastern homo-PP yarn at $1270/ton CIF Indonesia. Demand here is very weak and we might need to concede to some discount in order to deplete the stock,” an international trader informed.  

Polyethylene (PE)

Official deals for Thailand HDPE film are observed at $1320/ton CIF Vietnam, LC AS term, which are $10/ton drop week on week, however, there is also unconfirmed information that large-scale converters in the country have achieved deals for this cargo at $1310/ton with the same term. With such gradual reduction, it makes sense that buyer here decided to place bids at below $1300/ton threshold for deep-sea cargoes.

Meanwhile, more overseas sellers started indicating softer offers for August shipment citing the weak sentiment across Asia. New prices might emerge in the coming week and buyers are taking a step back to wait for further development.