China PS Market Was Frenetic Amid New Safety Policy
- China PS market frenzied after helmet demand soar
- Mixed responses on PS price hyping
- Outlook would be positive for the time being
China PS market this week was frenetic after the latest government policy boosted demand for PS resins. SSESSMENTS.COM noted that local offers for GPPS Injection and HIPS Injection in China market were on an uptrend during this week. In general, local offers surged by CNY300/ton ($42/ton) for GPPS and CNY250/ton ($35/ton) for HIPS on a week-on-week comparison. This upward trend is supported by the strong demand fro PS resins following the announcement of the "one head, one helmet" policy, which the apparatus will be strictly enforced users of the motorized and or electric cycle to use a helmet to comply with safety regulations. SSESSMENTS.COM quoted research from Guojin Securities which stated that following the policy announcement on April 21, China will need about 200 million helmets by June 1.
Converter quoted from Caixin news website said that orders had "exploded" since the beginning of May and factories had more orders than they could deal. While the demand for PS resins is increasing, market players send mixed responses regarding upward price movements. According to the producer, buyers are resistance to high-end prices. Another producer contacted by SSESSMENTS.COM told that their offer is different because it does not follow the hype of the helmet market as their materials cannot be used in producing helmet. With a helmet as a durable item, not like a mask which must be discarded after use, the converter needs some rationality to enter the market going forward. This producer is more concern of general requests that come from home appliances and automobiles which remained flat for the past few weeks. A trader also in the same page as the producer and pointed out that government made an announcement that they are going to be very hard on those who take advantage of the price increases, so the market starts to cool down again near the end of the week. No issues in supply were reported to SSESSMENTS.COM until the time of publication of this article.
From the market players perspective, the price outlook would be stable with slight fluctuations. As SSESSMENTS.COM noted, tight supply in the near future caused by planned maintenance shutdowns coupled with firm SM prices might support upward price adjustments, but the poor demand from converters, in general, would also hinder PS prices from soaring.
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