- Import PET Bottle offers broke below $700/ton-level at the end of April
- PET Bottle demand in the region was sluggish in April
- PET Bottle prices foreseen to move lower as crude oil prices remain on the low-level
At the beginning of April, local PET Bottle offers in Malaysia recorded stable, while local PET Bottle offers in Thailand dropped between THB500-1,000/ton ($15-31/ton) compared to a week earlier. While in the week commencing April 13, following the uptrend in the China market, some local traders in Thailand attempted to adjust up PET Bottle offers by THB500/ton ($15/ton) from the previous week. However, responses from customers were cold. In contrast, in Malaysia, some converters received PET Bottle offers from a local producer at MYR50/ton ($12/ton) lower compared to the same period due to the sluggish domestic demand, SSESSMENTS.COM noted. In the following week, a local trader in Thailand initiated another upward adjustment for local PET Bottle offers between THB250-500/ton ($8-15/ton) citing that sales for the finished product were healthy. Local PET offers in Thailand remain stable until the end of the month. Whereas in Malaysia, local PET Bottle offers captured at MYR100/ton ($23/ton) lower on the week commencing April 20 and stood between MYR3,250-3,300 ($756-767/ton) on cash, FD Malaysia basis and excluding 6% SST until the end of April.
In the import market, offers for PET Bottle cargoes of China origin to the Southeast Asia market captured at $15-40/ton higher on the week commencing April 6 as compared to the previous week. The increment on the import prices was due to the higher crude oil prices followed by the increment of feedstock prices, coupled with the improvement of demand in the local market. Import PET Bottle offers hovered around $700/ton-threshold level for most part of April. However, SSESSMENTS.COM’s data showed that the offers eventually broke below $700/ton-level at the end of April as most buyers in the region were reluctant to place orders amid the lockdown, disrupting supply chains and affecting sales performance. Detailed information for Indonesia and Vietnam is available in MonthlySSESSMENTS of the respective countries.
The overall PET Bottle demand in the region was sluggish during April as most of the Southeast Asian countries were still under lockdown to curb the spread of Coronavirus. In contrast, some converters in Thailand stated that demand for hand sanitizer bottles and hand wash increased significantly amid Coronavirus outbreak, as well as sales for water bottles have been increasing as the country was in the grip of a withering heatwave. However, in the second half of April, demand for hand sanitizer bottles and hand wash shrunk as people started to calm down. Several countries such as the Philippines, Thailand, and Malaysia decided to extend the lockdown but plan to ease some restrictions on businesses and public activities or allow businesses in certain sectors to continue operations. On the supply front, no significant issues reported to SSESSMENTS.COM.
Looking ahead, Southeast Asian market players opined to SSESSMENTS.COM that PET Bottle prices will move lower as crude oil prices remain on the low-level. While PET Bottle demand will remain subdued as the Coronavirus outbreak has not been fully handled.
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