Despite Firm Monomer Prices, China’s PET Offers Adjusted To Match Demand Conditions
- Local PET Prices dragged down by domestic demand
- Buying sentiment remains dull due to a prominent reason
- Players believe local PET prices will hover at the current level
Despite firm monomer prices, China’s PET Bottle offers were adjusted to match demand conditions, SSESSMENTS.COM was told. On the week starting July 27, local offers for PET Bottle from the majority of Chinese producers went down by CNY50/ton ($7/ton) from last week’s level. However, one of the producers decided to maintain stable offers as compared to the same period, citing that it seems pointless to adjust down the offers since buying sentiment is already dull. To lure buyers, a producer is willing to sell up to CNY100/ton ($14/ton) lower from the initial offer level, depending on the volume of purchases. At the time of publication, some deals for local materials managed to close at and below the initial offer level. To the export market, offers from several Chinese PET producers were stable to softer by $5/ton on a weekly comparison. So far, no deals concluded from the export market due to weak demand.
Speaking of the demand, SSESSMENTS.COM noted that buying sentiment for PET Bottle in China’s domestic market is flat as buyers keep procuring on an as-needed basis. Besides, most converters prefer ordering forward cargoes for December or even next year's productions. In the export market, particularly in the Southeast Asia market, demand was hampered by the advent of the rainy season. Aside from that, most overseas buyers are more likely sourcing local materials due to its price competitiveness. No supply issues reported at the moment.
Looking ahead, Chinese market players contacted by SSESSMENTS.COM believe that local PET prices will hover at the current level or to follow the movement of monomer prices. Meanwhile, domestic demand is expected to remain stagnant in the upcoming week.
