- Leading Indian petrochemical producer applied different price amendment in May
- Demand improvement was seen since the second week of the month
- PE market predicted to continue to improve onwards
As informed to SSESSMENTS.COM, the leading Indian petrochemical producer adjusted down HDPE Blow Moulding and LLDPE Film C4 offers by INR3,000/ton ($40/ton) and INR2,000 ($27/ton) respectively. While for LDPE grades, the offers dropped by INR3,000 ($40/ton) except for LDPE Extrusion Coating and Lamination which was stable. All price adjustments with effect from May 1, 2020. In the following week, the offers for HDPE Film and LLDPE Film C4 from the leading Indian petrochemical producer were kept stable on a weekly comparison. Likewise, the offers for localized Middle Eastern HDPE Film, HDPE Blow Moulding, and LDPE Film from traders’ end were maintained stable as compared to the same period. On the week commencing May 18, the leading Indian petrochemical producer increased HDPE Film offers by INR1,000/ton ($13/ton) and by INR2,000/ton ($27/ton) for both LDPE Film and LLDPE Film C4 with effect from May 21, 2020. By the final week of the month, an upward increment of INR2,000/ton ($27/ton) from a week earlier was recorded for local LLDPE Film C4 cargoes. Similarly, the offers for localized Middle Eastern HDPE Film and LDPE Film cargoes also hiked up between INR2,000-3,000/ton ($27-40/ton) and by INR3,000/ton ($40/ton) respectively on a weekly comparison.
In the import market, the offers for HDPE Film of US origin on the week commencing May 4 surged by $30-40/ton on week-on-week comparison, recorded at $740/ton. Other sources revealed to SSESSMENTS.COM that the company received US HDPE Film offers at $710/ton. However, sources were hesitant in making purchases owing to sufficient inventory on hand although the offers deemed quite competitive. Moving to the second week of the month, the offers for US HDPE Film captured higher between $50-60/ton compared to two weeks earlier with shipment from Taiwan. By the following week, upward increments of between $20-40/ton from a week earlier were captured for import LDPE Film cargoes of United Arab Emirates origin. Likewise, the offers for US HDPE Film also captured higher by $30/ton compared to the same period. By the final week of May, the offers for import HDPE Film cargoes of various origins were captured at $750-770/ton. For LDPE Film, the offers for the Middle East and North America origin stood at $840-870/ton and $800/ton respectively. While for LLDPE Film C4, the offers for the Middle East and North America origin hovered between $720-760/ton. All offers were on LC at sight, CIF India Main Port basis.
Following the biggest single-day increases in Coronavirus cases, the Indian government decided to extend the lockdown until May 31, 2020. To avoid further damage to the economic sector, the government decided to allow some businesses in green zone areas (areas with no confirmed cases for 21 consecutive days) to resume production activity. According to market sources report to SSESSMENTS.COM, PE demand in the first two weeks in India remained slow despite the lockdown relaxations as most metropolitan areas in India, such as Delhi and Mumbai remained under lockdown. However, slight demand improvement was recorded in the third week of the month as most businesses in low-risk areas were allowed to resume production under safety guidelines. Sources added that in Gujarat, most downstream factories were already running at 70% from the normal capacity. Demand was still ongoing up to the end of the month which was supported by the resumption of industries. On the supply side, there were no significant issues reported during the month. On the production sector, sources informed that Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) had resumed production at the company’s 300,000 tons/year HDPE plant located in Panipat complex within the week commencing May 11.
For the outlook, market sources predict that the PE market in India will continue to improve in June. However, the buying activities will soften again once buyers already have sufficient inventory on hand. After that, the market will most likely remain stable as most players are waiting for the Coronavirus issues to resolve, SSESSMENTS.COM was told.
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