Price Adjustments Recorded In Southeast Asia PET Market, Demand Yet To Show Development
- Price adjustments made by local and foreign suppliers received a quite positive response
- Finished product demand remains weak in Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand
- PET price outlook to depend on trade tension and feedstock prices
Price adjustments were recorded in Southeast Asia PET market this week. Market sources told SSESSMENTS.COM that PET Bottle prices in Malaysia open market stood at MYR3,000-3,100/ton ($704-728/ton), down by MYR50/ton ($11/ton) on the high-end of the price range. According to one of the sources, the prices quoted by suppliers were not firm with room for negotiation remained open. Meanwhile, a Thai converter informed that offers for local PET Bottle cargoes dropped by THB500/ton ($15/ton). Local offers from two PET producers in Thailand were available at THB23,000/ton ($722/ton) on cash, FD basis and excluding 7% VAT. The converter voiced out their plan to negotiate deals for THB22,500/ton ($711/ton) on the same payment and delivery term with purchasing volume slightly lower than usual quantity. In the import market, on Monday, a Malaysian converter purchased PET cargoes of China origin at $5/ton lower than the initial offer level received last Friday, at $670/ton. For this week’s new offers, the Chinese supplier quoted offers at the same level to Monday’s deal level. However, the converter opined that offers remain negotiable. In the Myanmar market, a trader received offers for import PET Bottle of China origin at $30/ton lower compared to offers in early July, while a new Vietnamese PET producer kept offers lower than other suppliers in an attempt to attract customers. Detailed information for Indonesia and Vietnam market is available in WeeklySSESSMENTS of the respective countries.
Demand-wise, the market in Malaysia is much slower than the normal situation this week. SSESSMENTS.COM was told that even in the domestic market, certain sector such as beverages bottle is very affected as market players in this industry are reportedly running very low due to high inventory levels of finished products that cannot be digested as fast as usual. One of the converters shared that the company can maintain running rate at 80-85% since orders are still coming from the sheet sector. While in Thailand market, a converter informed that their production rate is kept below 50% from normal capacity as demand for finished products remains sluggish. The converter actually still has enough stocks of raw materials for August production; hence, plans to ask the supplier to send the new cargoes at the end of August or early September instead. Meanwhile, a Myanmar trader informed that buyers in the country keep purchasing on a hand-to-mouth basis as the end-products demand is not strong yet.
Some players in Southeast Asia are not optimistic about the near-term outlook for the PET market. Some converters shared with SSESSMENTS.COM that finished products demand in August will remain stagnant since the rainy season is still ongoing, while the traditional peak season in September is not yet certain. For prices, some players in Thailand opined that PET prices will depend on the crude oil prices and concern regarding the tension between US and China as it might trigger another fluctuation in crude oil prices, and in turn, affecting PET prices.
