As contacted by SSESSMENTS.COM, a Chinese trader revealed that fundamental demand exists in the China PE market despite the seasonal slowdown. According to the trader, most suppliers are attempting to hype the market sentiment by hinting at a price increase, taking account of supply disruption from Iran, a key PE supplier to China. As reported, shipments for import PE cargoes from Iran to China were delayed as new US sanctions took hold after a 180-day “wind-down” period ending in early June. The delay in shipment from the US sanctioned country resulted in supply shortage in the China market. However, the trader mentioned that a possible bump in supply might have a dampening effect on the rally, citing the delayed cargoes from Iran will arrive by the end of July. As the current offer level is deemed too high, most buyers were reluctant to make fresh procurement.
In the domestic market, the trader has adjusted down its offers further in response to the recent drop in the futures market. As compared to Thursday's level, the trader initiated a price reduction of between CNY50-150/ton ($7-21/ton) for local HDPE Film, LDPE Film, LLDPE Film C4 cargoes. The move, however, failed to draw a positive response from buyers. The trader pointed out that customers regarded the offer level as high, even after the downward adjustment. Local LDPE Film offers, in particular, have touched over CNY9,000/ton-level ($1,287/ton) this week. Coming to the last trading day of the second week of July, SSESSMENTS.COM was informed that buyers in China prefer to hold back until they have better clarity on market conditions before taking the next decision.
From the import market, the trader quoted higher offers for import PE cargoes of Saudi origin this week. On weekly comparison, current import offers for Saudi HDPE Film cargoes are available in the market between $10-30/ton higher, while offers for Saudi LDPE Film cargoes adjusted up between $20-30/ton. As for Saudi LLDPE Film C4, import offers from the trader surfaced in the market at $820-840/ton, or at $10-20/ton higher compared to the same period. All offers are on LC at sight, CIF China Main Port basis.
