Morning Briefing - 09 Apr. 2025
CommoPlast
Morning Briefing
09 April 2025
Brent: $62.82 (â $1.39)
WTI: $59.58 (â $1.12)
Naphtha CFR Japan: á $11
Ethylene CFR NEA: Stable
Ethylene CFR SEA: Stable
Propylene FOB Korea: â $5
Propylene CFR China: â $5
*Data represent closing prices of the previous trading day
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Chinese PP exporters sidelined trade war concerns
Despite heightened anxiety across Asia over the deepening global trade war, Chinese PP exporters remained largely unfazed, adopting a measured approach to pricing. Offers were trimmed by a modest $7/ton week-on-week—a move seen more as a reflection of the weakening Yuan against the US dollar and declining futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange than of panic over external market shocks. Rather than reacting aggressively to the uncertainty, most suppliers chose to sideline short-term demand concerns, shifting focus to upstream developments.
Approximately 17% of China’s PP output is derived from propane dehydrogenation (PDH) technology. With Beijing now enforcing a 34% tariff on all US imports—including propane, of which the US is China’s largest supplier—PDH operators are facing potential feedstock disruptions that could ripple through the supply chain.
While the market is still in flux, exporters are working to maintain offers above the $900/ton FOB China threshold, walking a fine line between safeguarding profit margins and staying competitive in a volatile environment.
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Indonesian Producer Slashes PP/PE Prices, Defying Rupiah Crash
An Indonesian producer rattled the domestic PP and PE markets by implementing a second consecutive week of price cuts despite the Rupiah’s plunge to a record low at IDR 16,929 to a dollar. The move appeared to adjust to several bearish factors, including a slide in energy benchmarks to multi-year lows and poor economic confidence following the US government’s 32% tariff on Indonesian imports.
Market participants have not immediately responded to the latest price adjustment, instead, remained closely attentive toward post-Eid purchasing activities. Film packaging converters have already noted strained sentiments in downstream markets, especially as US importers resist the costs associated with the recent levy hikes.
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