In a positive development, auction allocations have significantly increased, a change that market sources view as a welcome relief. This improved allocation is expected to provide some easing of the current tightness in spot cargoes, though challenges remain.
The challenge facing regional suppliers, who aim to attract buying interest in this market, is to overcome the aggressive localised Malaysian cargoes. These parcels, often offered through forward-selling, tend to disrupt the market with highly competitive pricing.
Following a slump in October, the LLDPE film market experienced a sharp rebound, driven by robust demand from agricultural film and packaging sectors. Export orders surged as US importers stockpiled ahead of potential port worker strikes and import tariff hikes, boosting demand for industrial packaging.
Following the January price announcement earlier this week, a major Saudi Arabian producer set final prices with a minor discount of $10/ton discount on HDPE and LDPE film while offering limited space for negotiation on LLDPE film.
On 24 December, the Indian government officially announced a six-month postponement of the QCO for PVC under the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) mandate. However, this delay provided limited immediate relief.
Despite having a small auction quantity on the final trading day of the week, Shenhua proactively introduced discounts of CNY 20/ton on homo-PP and CNY 60/ton on LLDPE following sluggish trading results in the previous session.