A China-based trader revealed to SSESSMENTS.COM that several Middle Eastern producers have announced July shipment offers to the China market. To the agents, a Saudi producer initiated a price increase of $100/ton for HDPE Film and $60/ton for LLDPE Film C4 compared to June shipment offers. The trader will mark up their offers to customers by $30/ton. The trader commented that the producer allocated most volume to Southeast Asia due to better netback. Therefore, the producer’s allocation to the China market is limited, around 20-30% of the total volume.
Similarly, SSESSMENTS.COM was informed that a Qatari producer has also announced a July shipment offers to the China market. As compared to the June shipment, the producer applied a price increase of between $50-60/ton for LDPE Film and LLDPE Film C4 offers, citing tightness in supply due to production issues. Responses from customers remain lukewarm. Some buyers are willing to procure cargoes, but only in a small quantity, while others are reluctant to take the cargoes and prefer to adopt a wait-and-see stance.
On the supply side, market talks have it that approximately 30,000 tons of Iranian PE cargoes are scheduled to arrive in Asia market by next month. The trader opined that if the Iranian cargoes are arriving at the same time with Middle Eastern July shipment cargoes, the supply will be ample. Initially, the Iranian PE cargoes were scheduled to arrive in the market by May. “There are 4-5 vessels moving to Asia, including China,” the trader added to SSESSMENTS.COM. For the near-term outlook, the trader voiced out that there is still a possibility for PE prices to continue to move upward.
