- Import offers recorded a hefty reduction of up to $60/ton
- Demand was sluggish due to bearish sentiment amid Coronavirus concern
- Most players expressed pessimistic outlook as Coronavirus outbreak intensifies
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During February, SSESSMENTS.COM’s data showed that local and localized PE offers within Southeast Asia market showed a mixed trend. In Malaysia, February delivery offers from a Malaysian polyolefins producer were adjusted up by MYR180/ton ($43/ton) for HDPE Film and HDPE Blow Moulding while for LDPE Film went up by MYR300/ton ($71/ton) as compared to January delivery offers. However, converters informed that offers for PE across all grades via traders edged down between MYR50-100/ton ($12-24/ton) on a weekly comparison. In Thailand, offers from the local producers in the first week of the month went up by THB500 ($16/ton) for HDPE Film and LDPE Film while LLDPE Film C4 increased by THB1,000/ton ($32/ton) on a weekly comparison. The local PE offers in Thailand were maintained stable for the rest of the month on the back of tight supply from the local producers, yet traders were willing to sell below the producers’ price lists. In the Philippines, offers for HDPE Film and LLDPE Film C4 from the local producer remained stable during the month. Detailed information for price movement in Indonesia and Vietnam market is available in MonthlySSESSMENTS of the respective countries.
In the import market, offers for PE cargoes to the region were mostly on a downtrend during the month. For Middle Eastern cargoes, March shipment offers for HDPE Film and LLDPE Film C4 reported down by $30-50/ton and $20-60/ton respectively while LDPE Film maintained stable, all compared to February shipment. For Southeast Asian cargoes, March shipment offers for HDPE Film and LDPE Film from several producers dropped between $10-40/ton and $10-50/ton respectively compared to February shipment offers. Whereas for Southeast Asian LLDPE Film C4 cargoes, offers reported down between $30-40/ton on a weekly comparison by the third week of the month. For US cargoes, HDPE Blow Moulding offers to Vietnam in the second week of February dropped by $40/ton as compared to two weeks earlier. Meanwhile, on a weekly comparison, offers for US LLDPE Film C4 cargoes to Malaysia reported drop by $30/ton in the first week of the month. For India origin cargoes, SSESSMENTS.COM noted that import offers to Vietnam edged down by $20/ton on a monthly comparison for HDPE Film and HDPE Yarn, while LLDPE Film C4 offers dropped between $35-40/ton on a weekly comparison.
Demand-wise, the overall sales for PE resins were slow during February. The expectation for further price reductions on the back of weak buying sentiment amid Coronavirus concern had hindered buyers from making purchases in bulk. Additionally, demand for finished products remained sluggish due to global economic slowdown. On the supply side, the availability of PE cargoes in Thailand, Philippines and Vietnam was rather limited, yet no significant impact reported as demand was soft. On the production sector, Thai PTT’s LDPE plant with a capacity of 300,000 tons/year experienced an unplanned shutdown after reaching prime grade production on February 13, due to a problem at its compressor. Meanwhile, the company’s 400,000 tons/year LLDPE plant no.1 has resumed production on February 18 after being shut for maintenance around mid-January. Likewise, Thai PTT’s HDPE plant with a production capacity of 300,000 tons/year also brought on-stream within the week commencing February 24 following maintenance shutdown in late January. All plants are located in Map Ta Phut, Rayong Province, Thailand. In Indonesia, a source from Chandra Asri Petrochemical informed SSESSMENTS.COM that the company will use its 400,000 tons/year LLDPE plant to run a trial production for mLLDPE in March 2020.
Looking into March, most market players shared a pessimistic outlook. The majority of market players opined to SSESSMENTS.COM that PE prices would move even lower, especially for import cargoes, considering the weak buying sentiment. In terms of demand, most players do not see any signs of improvements in the near term due to grave concern over Coronavirus outbreak globally, which led to a consecutive drop on crude oil prices recently.
*Shipment from Singapore
*Re-export from China
