Morning Briefing - 16 October 2026

MORNING BRIEFING

CommoPlast                 Friday, 16 October 2026

                                                                                                                        commoplast.com

MARKET MOVEMENT

Closing prices, previous trading day. Monomers show price directions only.

TODAY’S DEVELOPMENTS

POLYETHYLENE · INDONESIA

Thai major’s PE price cuts meet resistance as delivery timing deters buyers

A major Thai producer has cut HDPE and LLDPE film offers to Indonesia by another $30/ton, marking its fourth consecutive weekly reduction. The move runs counter to firmer regional pricing, raising questions over whether the producer is sacrificing margins to secure sales as competition intensifies.

Indonesian buyers remain reluctant to commit, with competitive domestic alternatives and cargo delivery timing emerging as key obstacles. The Thai shipments risk arriving after converters' seasonal preparation window for major celebrations in Q1 2027, weakening their appeal despite the lower offers. Meanwhile, market participants question whether further discounts are warranted as regional sentiment increasingly points towards firmer prices.

Read full story:

Fourth straight cut: Thai PE offers to Indonesia fall against a firming region

POLYVINYL CHLORIDE · CHINA

China PVC faces winter with domestic sentiment still struggling to gain traction

Chinese PVC prices failed to gain traction this week despite fresh output cuts, as weak buying left sellers no room to lift offers. Lower coal costs are eroding the cost floor under carbide-based PVC, and even with warehouse inventories drawing down, producers have little case for another round of hikes.

At the same time, ethylene-based PVC still trades at a steep premium to carbide material, and high upstream costs have pushed some producers to trim operating rates. The tighter supply has not translated into demand: domestic buyers are restocking strictly as needed, and export enquiries remain slow.

Seasonal weakness ahead of winter leaves little prospect of a demand-led recovery in the near term. Producers are holding offers firm, but cuts that fail to stimulate buying cannot hold the market up on their own. Whether the latest reductions go deep enough to forestall further price adjustments is the question to watch.

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