Local PET Producer In Vietnam Sidestepped Current Price Trend To Maintain Competitiveness
- A local producer adjusted prices in contrast with the current market trend
- Demand in Vietnam remains sluggish due to rainy season and Coronavirus pandemic
- Local and import PET prices expected to maintain the current trend
SSESSMENTS.COM was informed that a local PET producer in Vietnam sidestepped the current price trend to maintain competitiveness. For the week commencing June 1, the offers for PET Bottle cargoes from a local producer via traders were adjusted higher by VND300,000/ton ($13/ton) from last week. However, another local producer decided to reduce the offers for PET Bottle by VND600,000/ton ($26/ton) compared to the same period. Sources opined that the producer reduced the offers to be able to compete as last week’s offers were higher than the other producer’s offers while the material’s quality from the other producer is better. Meanwhile, done deals were recorded at VND18,700,000/ton ($801/ton) on cash, FD Vietnam basis, and including 10% VAT. From the import market, the offers for PET Bottle cargoes of Indonesia and Thailand origin captured higher by $5/ton and between $5-10/ton respectively. Likewise, the offers for import PET Bottle of South Korea origin were also adjusted higher by $20/ton. While for China origin, the offers were captured stable to increase between $10-20/ton. All changes in import offers on week-on-week comparison.
Despite the improvement, PET demand in Vietnam is still considered as slow affected by several factors such as, the rainy season, sufficient inventory on hand, and the tourism industry that remains poor due to the Coronavirus pandemic which led to the slow consumption of finished products. Some converters revealed to SSESSMENTS.COM that their factories are running at reduced rates as demand for their finished products is affected by the weather. On the supply side, there are no issues reported.
Pertaining to the outlook, the majority of market players opined to SSESSMENTS.COM that demand will most likely remain stagnant due to the rainy season and Coronavirus pandemic. However, sellers expected local and import PET offers to remain firm taking into account the strong crude oil and monomer prices.
