Vietnam PS Market Showed Contrast Performance Compared To Other Southeast Asian Countries
- Crude oil price trend influenced PS prices
- Southeast Asian PS market is muted, except Vietnam
- Players shared contrasting outlook for pricing
On the week commencing May 18, local PS offers in Southeast Asia market captured stable to slightly firmer. In Indonesia, local GPPS Injection and HIPS Injection offers were captured relatively stable from the level available in last week’s WeeklySSESSMENTS. While in Vietnam, offers for GPPS from a local producer were adjusted up by $10/ton from last week following the uptrend in crude oil and SM prices. In the import market, a Vietnamese converter informed SSESSMENTS.COM that a Taiwan PS producer offered GPPS Injection at $855/ton LC at sight, CIF Vietnam Main Port basis, lower by $5/ton from last week. However, the converter buying idea is at $20-30/ton lower than the initial level, but since the styrene monomers are on the uptrend, it is hard to bid at lower prices. Meanwhile, the deals for Thailand GPPS Injection were concluded at $20/ton lower from the initial level. Other GPPS Injection offers were coming from South Korea at $880/ton and Singapore at $900/ton, but no deals concluded yet. The trader mentioned that since this week's prices are already near the bottom, accepting lower bids are unlikely. All offers are on LC at sight, CIF Vietnam Main Port basis.
Demand in Southeast Asia region this week is varied, SSESSMENTS.COM noted. While Vietnam's domestic market demand is considered stable at a healthy level, while other countries remain quiet. Most buyers in the Philippines are also not interested in making fresh procurements since their March-April cargoes just started to be shipped out following the recent Coronavirus lockdowns. On the supply side, no significant issue was reported.
In terms of pricing, market sources shared a different outlook. SSESSMENTS.COM noted that some market players predict that PS prices will move lower in the near future since this week’s high prices are not workable, but others predict that the uptrend will sustain and prices will rise further. Regarding demand, players are unsure of the future market development as the Coronavirus pandemic still looms over the region.
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