Lockdown Relaxation, Supply Issues At Several Southeast Asian PE Producers Left Insignificant Impact On Buying Sentiment
- Local, import offers generally moved in the same direction
- No significant improvement in demand despite lockdown relaxation in some countries
- Near-term outlook remains pessimistic
As SSESSMENTS.COM noted, lockdown relaxation and supply issues at several Southeast Asian PE producers left insignificant impact on buying sentiment. This week, local and import offers in the Southeast Asia PE market generally moved in the same direction. In Malaysia, May delivery offers from the local producer decreased between MYR220-260/ton ($51-61/ton) for HDPE Film, HDPE Blow Moulding, and LDPE Film. While via traders, offers for HDPE Film reported lower by MYR100/ton ($23/ton) from the producer’s price list, stood at MYR3,300/ton ($764/ton) on 30 days credit term, FD Malaysia basis and excluding 6% SST. In the Philippines, local offers for HDPE Film and LLDPE Film C4 cargoes from the leading polyolefins producer in the country stood at the same level at PHP50,000/ton ($881/ton) on cash, FD Philippines basis and including 12% VAT. While in Thailand, local offers reported stable to softer by THB250/ton ($8/ton) for HDPE Film, LDPE Film, and LLDPE Film C4.
From the import market, SSESSMENTS.COM noted that most foreign suppliers slashed offers for this week. Import offers for Malaysian HDPE Film and LDPE Film cargoes to Philippines reported down by $100/ton and $50/ton, respectively with deals concluded at $20/ton lower than the initial offers for both cargoes. For Middle Eastern cargoes, Saudi offers to Philippines edged down by $20/ton for HDPE Film and between $30-60/ton for LLDPE Film C4. All changes are on a monthly comparison. While in Thailand, deals for Middle Eastern HDPE Film and LLDPE Film C4 cargoes concluded at $40/ton and $50/ton lower than the initial offer level. Deals for both cargoes captured at $710/ton for the former and $770/ton for the latter, all on LC at sight, CIF Thailand Main Port basis. Detailed information for Indonesia and Vietnam market is available in WeeklySSESSMENTS of the respective countries.
Overall, demand for PE resins in the region remains dull despite lockdown relaxation in some countries. As of May 4, Malaysia has put 3 states under Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) and allowed factories located in these areas to run production at maximum capacity. Likewise, the Philippines government has also eased lockdown regulations for provinces categorized as General Community Quarantine (GCQ) and allowed factories to run up to 80% from normal capacity. However, no significant improvement in demand for PE resins reported as sales for end-products remain sluggish amid the Coronavirus pandemic. Healthy demand is only seen for essential and medical-related products. On the supply front, no significant issue was reported to SSESSMENTS.COM, except in Indonesia.
As demand for end-products remains a major concern, the near-term outlook for Southeast Asia PE market is still pessimistic. Majority of market players foresee possibility for further decrease in local and import PE prices owing to subdued demand. Even supply issues heard at several producers, such as Chandra Asri Petrochemical and ExxonMobil, could not boost buying sentiment.
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