- Export orders contracted sharply as global demand falters amid Coronavirus spreads
- Hype and momentum flourish and dwindle across the month of May
- The outlook remains firm despite a seasonal slowdown
China PS market was in the ruckus following May. Most local producers applied a price increase of between CNY200-300/ton ($28-42/ton) for GPPS Injection and HIPS Injection on the week commencing May 4 before reported down between CNY50-300/ton ($5-42/ton) on the following week. The decreases in the SM prices and slow demand for PS resins were the major ground of the downward price adjustments on the week commencing from May 11. A rebound occurred on the week May 18 as local offers surged by CNY300/ton ($42/ton) for GPPS and CNY250/ton ($35/ton) for HIPS on a week-on-week comparison. This upward trend was supported by the strong demand from PS resins following the announcement of the "one head, one helmet" policy. Later, in the week commencing from May 25, local PS offers in China market captured moving in a different direction with price announced between CNY7,600-8,500/ton ($1,064-1,190/ton) and CNY8,400-9,500/ton ($1,176-1,330/ton) respectively as producers were competing with others to take market amid cooling down of helmet hype and tight supply.
Speaking of the import market, a Vietnamese producer offered GPPS Injection cargoes at $840/ton on LC at sight, CIF China Main Port basis in the week commencing from May 4 before securing deals $40/ton lower than the initial offer level. Offers for Vietnamese GPPS Injection remained stable in the following week, but there is no new offer reported in the week beginning from May 18. Import offers for PS Cargoes then surfaced, coming from South Korean producer, on the week commencing from May 25 with done deals concluded at the initial offer between $850-860/ton for GPPS Injection and $970-980/ton for HIPS Injection.
China’s PS market was bustling with activity until early of May as most buyers were building inventory ahead of the Labor Day holiday. However, market activity started to turn tepid after May 8 as the majority of converters prefer to adopt a wait-and-see stance and to purchase on a need basis. The uptrend in crude oil prices was unable to boost buying sentiment due to sour downstream demand. The overall demand for PS resins thus reported slow in mid-May as the automotive and home appliances sector is subdued as the orders from overseas declined significantly. Although the supply is relatively tight as planned maintenance kicks in, the traditional low season which takes place from June to July has started to affect buying sentiment on the end of the month. On plant news, BASF-YPC Company Limited started maintenance on May 5 at the company’s 200,000 tons/year PS plant located in Jiangsu, China and expected to resume production on June 20, while Taiwanese’ Chi Mei revealed their plant relocation which led to the cessation of PS resin production until early 2021.
For the outlook, market participants are expecting for local PS prices to fluctuate within a range of between CNY100-200/ton ($14-28/ton) from the latest price. Although the demand is predicted to slow down coming into the traditional season, SSESSMENTS.COM was told that tight supply in the near future caused by planned maintenance shutdowns coupled with firm SM prices may provide cushion for prices.
Click below to read best reviews on the China PS market:
WeeklySSESSMENTS: China PS Prices Week Starting May 25
WeeklySSESSMENTS: China PS Prices Week Starting May 18
WeeklySSESSMENTS: China PS Prices Week Starting May 11
WeeklySSESSMENTS: China PS Prices Week Starting May 4
MonthlySSESSMENTS: April China PS Prices
