Review of Indonesia Polyethylene (PE) Market
- HDPE Film Middle East origin $1,040-1,090/ton, Southeast Asia origin $1,240/ton
- LDPE Film Middle East origin $1,320-1,350/ton, Southeast Asia origin $1,600/ton
- LLDPE Film C4 Middle East origin $1,070-1,100/ton, Southeast Asia origin $1,210/ton
Comments by market players on polyethylene (PE) as follows:
Import polyethylene (PE) offers to Southeast Asia continued to decrease. In the week commencing August 1, import HDPE Film offers from South Korea to Vietnam dropped between $70-80/ton on a biweekly comparison, standing between $1,050-1,060/ton on LC at sight, CIF Vietnam main port basis. Market players heard that there are offers for LDPE Film to Vietnam as low as $1,150/ton with the same payment and delivery terms. A Middle Eastern producer trimmed offers to Indonesia and Malaysia between $40-50/ton for HDPE Film, $50/ton for LDPE Film, and $40/ton for LLDPE Film C4 compared to last week. A global trading house is no longer offering August shipment cargoes from a Saudi producer to Indonesia this week. The allocation was not sold out but diverted to the other markets. Deals were mostly concluded between $20-30/ton lower than the base offers for HDPE Film and $60-70/ton lower for LLDPE Film C4 last week. In the Indonesia domestic market, the price list for HDPE Film and LLDPE Film C4 from the leading Indonesian polyolefins producer emerged with reductions of IDR1,040,000/ton ($70/ton) and IDR750,000/ton ($50/ton), respectively compared to the price list announced on July 23. An Indonesian polyethylene (PE) producer trimmed the price list by IDR2,100,000/ton ($141/ton) for HDPE Film and IDR2,000,000/ton ($135/ton) for LLDPE Film C4 as compared to July 11. For localized cargoes, offers from a Thai polyethylene (PE) producer decreased by IDR500,000/ton ($34/ton) for HDPE Film and LLDPE Film C4 while offers for LDPE Film from the producer went down by IDR900,000/ton ($61/ton) on a weekly comparison.
The Indonesia polyethylene (PE) market is still quiet. Buyers are reluctant to make fresh purchases due to the expectation of lower offers. Some buyers also have ample inventory due to the low digestion rate amid the unsatisfactory end-product sales. Some downstream manufacturers plan to cut workers by 20% next month due to the slow business. Not in a rush, the buyers take time to monitor movements in the China market. Looking ahead, some market players predict that polyethylene (PE) will remain in a downtrend in the near term considering the bearish sentiment. Some others believe that movements in polyethylene (PE) offers will depend on crude oil prices and the China market condition. Demand-wise, market players opine that there are no signs of improvements yet in the near future.
