A Chinese trader explained to SSESSMENTS.COM the reasons behind the prominent increases on offers for certain PE grades. Supported by the increases in the futures market, the offers for both local and localized Middle Eastern PE cargoes are captured in an upward trend. In general, the trader’s offers for local and localized Middle Eastern PE cargoes across all grades increased between CNY50-100/ton ($7-14/ton). For local and localized LDPE Film and LLDPE Film C4 cargoes, the offers increased between CNY50-100/ton ($7-14/ton) and some premium grades even increased by CNY150/ton ($21/ton). Meanwhile, the offers for local and localized HDPE Film cargoes only increased by CNY50/ton ($7/ton). All compared to the last trading day. Considering the more prominent increment noted on LDPE Film and LLDPE Film C4 offers, the trader explained that the spot offers for LLDPE Film C4 cargoes are highly affected by the movement in the futures market. While for LDPE Film, the tight supply is associated with the planned shutdown at some LDPE plants coupled with the delay in Iranian cargoes. Until the time of publication, there is no recent information received pertaining to the delayed Iranian cargoes.
For import prices, the trader stated to SSESSMENTS.COM that last week, import PE prices were generally on an uptrend. The trader mentioned that import Middle Eastern LLDPE Film C4 increased between $10-15/ton on weekly comparison but deemed unattractive due to the continuous increases. Similarly, an increment of $20/ton was noted for import Middle Eastern HDPE Film cargoes. Despite the uptrend in both local and import prices, the buying sentiment in China market is weak amid the traditional low season as well as the slow digestion rate for finished products. As such, most converters halt the procurement activity while some are still keeping the procurement on a hand-to-mouth basis. However, the trader opined that PE prices would remain stable or even firmer in the near term if the shipment issue of Iranian cargoes remains unresolved.
