- Price movements in Q2 2020 affected by the coronavirus conditions in each market
- Coronavirus pandemic impacted overall PET Bottle demand
- Q3 2020 demand outlook overshadowed by the weather factor
Overall demand for PET Bottle in Southeast Asia during Q2 2020 had not fully recovered from the effects of coronavirus. Local PET Bottle offers in Thailand on the rollercoaster trend in April before stabilizing at THB23,500-24,500/ton ($755-787/ton) on cash, FD Thailand basis and excluding 7% VAT. Meanwhile, local PET Bottle offers in Malaysia recorded stable in the first half of April before dropping by MYR150/ton ($35/ton) in the second half, stood between MYR3,250-3,300/ton ($758-770/ton) on cash, FD Malaysia basis and excluding 6% SST. SSESSMENTS.COM noted that PET Bottle price trends in each Southeast Asia country during early May were mixed. The same trend in April repeated itself in May for local offers in Thailand while in Malaysia, the offers were adjusted down between MYR50-150/ton ($11-35/ton) compared to a month earlier. Moving to June, PET Bottle prices in Malaysia increased between MYR50-80/ton ($11-18/ton) on a monthly comparison following movement in import offers of China origin. Meanwhile, a reduction of THB500/ton ($16/ton) on the low-end of the price range was captured in local offers in Thailand. For localized China cargoes, offers in this quarter were available in Malaysia and Thailand at MYR3,180-3,250/ton ($742-758/ton) and THB24,000-24,500/ton ($771-787/ton), respectively. All offers on cash, FD basis and excluding VAT.
In the import market, SSESSMENTS.COM’s data showed that import PET Bottle offers within the Southeast Asia market broke below $700/ton-level at the end of April after holding above such a level for the most of the month. Import offers from China shifted approaching mid-May with offers recorded down between $5-15/ton to the Philippines market while to Malaysia increased by $5/ton on monthly comparison. At the end of May, a Chinese PET producer decided to increase offers to Southeast Asia between $20-30/ton for June shipment. In June, import PET Bottle offers of China origin to Malaysia were available between $700-750/ton, however, buy idea from buyers was between $10-30/ton lower. In the final week of June, July shipment offers for Chinese PET Bottle cargoes to Thailand decreased by $10/ton as compared to offers in early June. Detailed information for Indonesia and Vietnam market is available in QuarterlySSESSMENTS of the respective countries.
The overall PET Bottle demand in the region was sluggish during Q2 2020 as market activities in Southeast Asia were affected by coronavirus-related lockdowns imposed by the government in each country. Despite lockdown relaxations, end-product sales have not recovered, hence, converters procured raw materials on a need basis or even halted procurement activities in June. In Thailand, demand for the end-products also weakened due to the rainy season. As for Malaysia, slow sales in the food and beverage sector impacted demand for PET Bottle. Meanwhile, according to a Chinese PET producer, Southeast Asian buyers preferred to procure local cargoes over import materials. No significant supply issues were reported to SSESSMENTS.COM during the quarter.
For outlook, PET prices within the Southeast Asia market are expected to remain stable or slightly softer, as the feedstock prices and end-product demand cannot support any form of price increases, despite efforts to boost the sentiment by suppliers and traders. Demand for end-products in Q3 would remain low due to the rainy season in most Southeast Asian countries, as told to SSESSMENTS.COM.
