Out of tune with the monomer prices, a Chinese PS producer contacted by SSESSMENTS.COM stated that the company decided to utilize the supply condition as a momentum to amend local offers. As noted, the producer’s latest offers for GPPS Injection and HIPS Injection increased by CNY200/ton ($28/ton) on a weekly comparison. The increment was made following the tight supply for high-end PS grades due to the upcoming maintenance shutdown at another local producer’s PS plant in August. As for common PS grades, the offers are mostly stable to decrease following the softer monomer prices. Speaking of monomer, the producer informed that as of July 16, SM inventory in coastal China recorded at 307,800 tons, a reduction of 9,700 tons. Whereas in the traders’ hands, the inventory stood at 205,300 tons, decreased by 8,700 tons. All compared to last week’s levels.
Demand-wise, SSESSMENTS.COM was told that buying sentiment in the domestic market remains bearish in the midst of market uncertainty. No improvement seen despite the better demand from the big-sized converters since demand from small-to-medium-sized converters is still sluggish. For finished products, sales to the export market are gradually improving week by week; some converters disclosed that they have received some orders from overseas markets, such as Europe and the U.S. On the production sector, most PS plants in China are running at a high rate but there is no presence of inventory pressure as most producers are still entangled with backlogs.
In the days to come, the producer commented to SSESSMENTS.COM that it is rather hard for monomer prices to move higher considering the high supply. Hence, it is unlikely for monomer prices to support local PS prices. Meanwhile, demand is expected to remain stagnant in the near future.
