Southeast Asia PE Market Hinged On Supply Factor
- Local PE offers in Thailand supported by supply condition
- Buying sentiment remains flat
- PTT Public Company Ltd will conduct maintenance at its new 400,000 tons/year LLDPE plant on July 20
As SSESSMENTS.COM noted, the Southeast Asia PE market hinged on the supply factor. For the week commencing July 6, Southeast Asia domestic PE prices captured stable to firmer. In Thailand, local offers for HDPE Film and LLDPE Film C4 increased between THB1,000-1,250/ton ($32-40/ton), while LDPE Film offers remain unchanged as compared to the end of last week. Whereas in Malaysia and the Philippines, PE offers across all grades remain stable on week-on-week comparison. Detailed information for Indonesia and Vietnam market is available in WeeklySSESSMENTS of the respective countries.
In the import market, LLDPE Film C4 offers from the leading Saudi polyolefins producer to Philippines maintained stable from last week at $910/ton with shipment from Singapore. Still, sources told SSESSMENTS.COM that the offers were deemed unworkable after adding the 3% custom duty. On biweekly comparison, US LLDPE Film C4 offers to Philippines hiked by $20/ton, available at $850/ton with shipment directly from the US. To Malaysia, a global trading house offered LLDPE Film C4 of India origin at a high level at $880/ton. The converter receiving this offer voiced out buy idea at $50/ton lower than the initial level. For regional cargoes, a Thailand-based trader managed to sell HDPE Film and LLDPE Film C4 from a Thai PE producer at $930-940/ton and $880-890/ton, respectively. For LDPE Film, the trader quoted a very high level at $980-1,000/ton citing limited allocation. For mLLDPE C6, a Malaysian converter received offers from a US and a Singaporean producer at a stable level from last week, yet only decided to purchase from the US producer with deals closed at initial level at $900/ton on EXW Port Klang basis. All import offers on LC at sight, CIF Main Port basis, unless stated otherwise.
Buying sentiment in Southeast Asia PE market remains flat, no significant improvement from last week. The firm prices are only supported by the tight supply while overall demand remains sluggish due to seasonal slowdown amid the rainy season in most countries. Converters keep purchasing in small volumes as their operating rates remain low, mostly at 80% from the normal rate especially in the Philippines. In the production sector, Thailand's PTT Public Company Ltd will conduct maintenance at its new LLDPE plant with an annual capacity of 400,000 tons starting from July 20 until August 8, a producer source told SSESSMENTS.COM.
For the pricing outlook, some players do not want to speculate and prefer to monitor market movement closely, while some opined that both local and import PE prices would remain firm in the upcoming week as supported by supply conditions. Demand-wise, the fears of the second wave of coronavirus outbreak will still hinder improvement in buying sentiment, SSESSMENTS.COM was told.
