Indian PE Buyers Waiting For Fresh Import Offers Although Not Preferable
- Local PE prices showed limited changes
- Import offers remain scarce
- Feedstock prices expected to lend support for PE prices despite the weather issues
Indian PE market players are waiting for fresh import offers, although not preferable. Within the week commencing June 22, SSESSMENTS.COM noted that local and localized PE prices in India remain unchanged over the week. Local HDPE Blow Moulding cargoes were available at INR70,000/ton ($927/ton), HDPE Film at INR71,000/ton ($940/ton), and INR69,000/ton ($914/ton) for LLDPE Film C4. While for localized cargoes, offers for Middle Eastern HDPE Blow Moulding were at INR69,000/ton ($914/ton). All on cash, EXW Mumbai basis and excluding 18% GST. In Ahmedabad, offers for localized Middle Eastern HDPE Film and LDPE Film were available at INR72,000/ton ($954/ton) and INR79,000/ton ($1,046/ton) respectively, on the same payment term. Meanwhile, import PE prices were on an uptrend. Import LDPE Film of Saudi and Qatar origin for July shipment surfaced with increases of between $40-50/ton as compared to last month. Until the time of publication, no deals were concluded yet.
Demand for PE resins reported ongoing, mostly from the packaging sector. Market sources informed SSESSMENTS.COM that local materials are preferable than imports as the local producers maintain the offers at competitive levels. Even so, buyers are still waiting for more fresh import offers, especially from Middle Eastern producers in order to gauge the market direction. As such, some players are halting the procurement activities. On the supply front, Indian market players stated that the availability of PE resins in the country is not ample. However, it did not lead to supply issues.
Looking ahead, the majority of market players opined that local and import PE offers have a limited room to decrease. Even though the monsoon season has started to kick-in in some parts of India, PE prices are expected to remain firm on the back of high feedstock prices. In terms of demand, the monsoon season will surely dampen demand for PE resins onwards, SSESSMENTS.COM was told.
