- Local PET Bottle offers recorded stable at the beginning of the month before the downtrend
- Demand remains slow on the back of several factors
- Market players stated bearish outlook as international PET prices may go down further
During March, offers for local PET Bottle within the Southeast Asia market reported stable to decrease. In Malaysia, local PET Bottle prices were relatively stable. However, some buyers opined that the offers were negotiable between MYR20-30/ton ($5-7/ton) lower than the initial level in the first week of the month and by MYR100/ton ($23/ton) on the week commencing March 9. On the week commencing March 16, some traders had to reduce the offers by MYR100/ton ($23/ton) due to the slow demand. Meanwhile, a consecutive downward price adjustment was captured in Thailand. On the week commencing March 2, offers for local PET Bottle went down by THB500/ton ($16/ton) and localized Chinese PET cargoes by THB300/ton ($9/ton). In the following week, the plunge in crude oil prices pushed local PET producers to adjust down the offers between THB500-1,000/ton ($16-32/ton). The same amount of price reduction noted by SSESSMENTS.COM on the week commencing March 16, and for the fourth week of the month it decreased by THB1,000/ton ($32/ton).
In the import market, offers for Chinese PET cargoes to the Philippines and Thailand at the beginning of March remained firm as supported by the stable monomers prices. However, starting from the week commencing March 9, the offers for Chinese PET cargoes decreased continuously until the end of the month. On March 13, SSESSMENTS.COM noted that Chinese PET Bottle offers to Myanmar and the Philippines declined by $45/ton and $40/ton, respectively. In the following week, the offers for the same cargoes to the Southeast Asia market dropped between $25-40/ton and by $40/ton to the Malaysia market on the week commencing March 23. Likewise, the same pattern was also seen in the export market. Offers for PET Bottle of Indonesia and Thailand origin on FOB basis reported stable on the week commencing March 2. In the following weeks in March, the offers for export PET Bottle of Thai origin went down by $30/ton and $10/ton, respectively. All price comparisons were compared to a week earlier. Detailed information for Indonesia and Vietnam market is available in WeeklySSESSMENTS of the respective countries.
The growing concern over Coronavirus outbreak, sufficient inventory on hand, and buyers’ expectation for lower prices hampered buying sentiment for PET in the Southeast Asia market. However, a Thai PET converter claimed that demand was satisfying on the week commencing March 9 as supported by the summer season. In the following week, a Thai PET producer stated that demand for PET Bottle resin was still ongoing though the purchasing volume decreased by 15% as compared to the same period in February. As the situation worsened at the end of the month stemming from the growing number of corona cases, the PET market in Thailand and Malaysia became quiet. However, the demand for PET end-products, such as healthcare-related and essential products remained stable to slightly improved amid the outbreak, SSESSMENTS.COM was told.
In the future, Southeast Asian market participants believe that market sentiment will remain bearish onwards. As PET prices in the international market are expected to decrease further, most buyers adopt a wait and see stance. However, for converters that produce healthcare-related and essential products, replenishment activities may take place in the near term, as stated to SSESSMENTS.COM.
