- Import PE cargoes to Bangladesh were in a downtrend during March
- The lockdown resulted in a shortage of manpower, stall factories operation
- Bangladesh PE market has no sign to rebound in the near term
The downtrend in the economic sector, in general, also affected Bangladesh PE market. In the first week of the month, the offers for HDPE Blow Moulding of South Korea origin for March shipment decreased between $10-20/ton as compared to February’s level. Moving forward to the following week, commencing on March 9, market talks have it that PE prices in the local currency decreased around 5% following the slump in crude oil prices. Meanwhile, import LLDPE Film C4 offers of India origin decreased by $50/ton as compared to a week earlier as the producer had inventory pressure. The offers for LLDPE Film C4 stood between $820-830/ton. In the third week of the month, offers for Indian LDPE Film cargoes were down between $20-40/ton as compared to the beginning of March. On the week commencing March 23, import offers for US LLDPE Film C4 recorded lower by $30/ton over a period of a week, as noted by SSESSMENTS.COM.
The general buying appetite for PE in Bangladesh was dull during March. The coronavirus outbreak, slow sales for the end products, and the Saudi-Russia’s oil price war were the major factors of the sluggish demand for PE in March. At the end of the month, market players even told SSESSMENTS.COM that there were hardly any market activities in Bangladesh as the country is under lockdown. Amid the lockdown, the delivery and production process is hampered due to the lack of manpower. On the supply front, no significant issues were reported by Bangladeshi market participants.
Looking forward into April, most market participants stated that PE prices will decrease further as demand remains sluggish amid the Coronavirus pandemic and the softer monomer prices, as stated to SSESSMENTS.COM.
*Shipment from Dubai and Singapore
* ETD April Shipment - 25kg trader bag
