In the last week, local PE prices in China fell on the heels of Dalian futures and fell after a two-month climb.

January LLDPE futures on the Dalian Commodity Exchange were down 640 CNY/ton ($100/ton) from the previous week through Oct.

The import PE market followed the same trend this week and prices reversed after mostly falling since June.

Last week was the first time LDPE price touched CIF 1700 USD/ton since February 2014 thanks to the support from tight supply. On the other hand, this week, the Middle East origin LDPE price has dropped by 30-50 USD/ton from last week and is estimated at 1620-1650 USD/ton in China CIF, cash.

The ChemOrbis Price Index shows that average weekly prices for HDPE film Middle East and LLDPE film hit their highest levels since November 2018 and July 2015 respectively last week.

This week, HDPE and LLDPE film also started to decline, with spot prices down by $20-60/ton from last week. The Middle East origin HDPE film price is estimated at $1180-1220/ton while the LLDPE film price is estimated at $1,200-1240/ton, both by the Chinese CIF method, in cash.

Another trader commented: “The sentiment in China's polyolefin market has been affected by the news that the government will intervene in coal prices to control price momentum. Major domestic and foreign suppliers have reduced their quotes for the country. Meanwhile, traders are having a hard time due to fluctuating prices because they bought raw materials at quite high prices at the beginning of the month.”

Meanwhile, local PE price also decreased by 100-960 CNY/ton (USD 16-150/ton) this week.