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Morning Briefing - 22 October 2026China’s PE consumption climbed to its highest monthly level since the start of the Middle East conflict in September, yet the headline figure was driven more by a pre-Golden Week holiday import surge rather than a genuine demand recovery. |
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MORNING BRIEFING
CommoPlast Thursday, 22 October 2026
commoplast.com
MARKET MOVEMENT
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Brent CRUDE · $/BBL |
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WTI CRUDE · $/BBL |
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108.82 |
97.15 |
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▲0.03 |
▼0.67 |
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▼ Naphtha CFR JAPAN |
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≈ Ethylene CFR NEA |
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≈ Ethylene CFR SEA |
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≈ Propylene FOB KOREA |
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≈ Propylene CFR CHINA |
Closing prices, previous trading day. Monomers show price directions only.
TODAY’S DEVELOPMENTS
POLYVINYL CHLORIDE · MALAYSIA
Malaysia PVC buyers resist November offers as weak demand outweighs cost pressure
Malaysia’s import PVC market opened November shipment negotiations cautiously this week, with Southeast Asian producers holding initial offers largely steady to marginally softer despite a fourth consecutive price hike from a major Taiwanese producer and firmer Chinese ethylene-based quotations. New regional offer levels nonetheless remained above last month’s concluded deal levels, and with downstream demand still subdued, buyers stayed on the sidelines and fresh transactions have yet to materialise.
In the Chinese ethylene-based PVC segment, offers rose on higher freight and upstream ethylene costs despite lacklustre demand, giving sellers some room to pass through cost pressure while still maintaining a price advantage over Southeast Asian material. Whether suppliers will concede to bid levels or hold firm will set the directional tone for the month ahead.
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STATISTICS · CHINA
China’s PE consumption hits six-month high in September as delayed import arrivals mask sluggish demand
China’s PE consumption climbed to its highest monthly level since the start of the Middle East conflict in September, yet the headline figure was driven more by a pre-Golden Week holiday import surge rather than a genuine demand recovery. Despite domestic PE output slipped on the month, a wave of delayed seaborne cargoes from multiple origins cleared customs ahead of the holiday, swelling available local supply and directly contributing to the higher consumption figure.
The downstream picture, however, remained lacklustre. Agricultural film and packaging converters ran lines well below year-ago levels and held minimal resin buffers, leaving major suppliers sitting on bloated pre-holiday inventories. The divergence between import-inflated consumption and actual converter activity points to a market still seeking a path to recovery as it closed out the third quarter.
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