An Indian polyolefins producer, ONGC Petro Additions Limited (OPaL), shared its plan to focus on selling to export market as the company has resumed production at its PE and PP plants. As contacted by SSESSMENTS.COM, the producer source informed that the company has continued operation since a few weeks ago and is currently running at 50% of normal capacity. “Other producers, such as Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd, GAIL Ltd, and Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), have also restarted their production last week,” the source added.
Citing poor domestic demand, the company shared with SSESSMENTS.COM its plan to focus on selling to the export market, with China as the main target. In the domestic market, demand only comes from converters who produce essential products, yet most are also running at reduced rates due to lack of workforce amid coronavirus lockdown. Additionally, materials delivery is not running smoothly due to the same issue.
Pertaining to lockdown, the source opined that there is a possibility of another extension applied, particularly for some states with a high number of coronavirus cases. As SSESSMENTS.COM noted, India has been under nationwide lockdown since March 24. The 21 days nationwide lockdown which was set to expire on April 14, got extended to May 3 as a measure to flatten the curve. “The near term outlook remains pessimistic. Even though the government lifted the lockdown, it will take some time for buyers to return to the market. Buyers will still adopt a cautious stance,” the source said.
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