News
Several regional and foreign suppliers have announced July PP and PE prices for China and Southeast Asia mostly at lower levels this week. Weak demand in China as uncertainty over the pandemic persists, has been a major factor pulling prices down in the region.
Malaysia decided to end the anti-dumping investigation on plastic imports from Vietnam, China, Indonesia and Korea, and to end the provisional anti-dumping tax and release the deposited deposits.
Rising costs encouraged European PS sellers to announce fresh hikes early in May. Having emerged €50-90/ton above April levels, PS prices hit fresh record highs but the upturn has lost speed. While smaller increases of around €50-60/ton have passed on deals so far, some sellers have started to report even rollovers in a few ...
April's price spikes sent Europe's PS and ABS markets to unprecedented levels as the climb accelerated due to soaring costs, while Asian markets fell on weak demand. Since Europe has outperformed the global markets, especially Asia, the spread between the two regions has widened to a level large enough to set a new record.
Several mixed factors have dragged Egypt's domestic and imported polyolefin markets in opposite directions over the past few weeks. While foreign exchange shortages and impeded imports gave distributors leverage to announce price increases, the import PP and PE markets have continued to weaken due to reduced demand.
According to data from Statistical Instrumentation, China's total homo PP imports for the January-April 2022 period show the lowest figure since 2008.
The domestic PP and PE markets in Southeast Asia have been going downhill over the past two months, driven by persistently weak demand, although a stronger US dollar continues to detract from the competitiveness of imports into the region.
The decision of the Central Bank of Egypt to revoke a regulation requiring importers to obtain a letter of credit (L/C) has been welcomed by market participants in an effort to improve supply. However, most market participants remain cautious given the challenging macroeconomic environment in Egypt.
After closing June deals with a triple-digit drop, European PP and PE market participants are bracing for deeper price drops next month due to ample supply and weak demand. Monomers are also forecast to decline due to the widening spread between spot and contract prices.