Decrease expectations keep Turkish PP, PE buyers on sidelines

PP and PE buyers in Turkey have been sidelined from the market since mid-August, amid widespread expectations of weakening prices, as per ChemOrbis. The downturn in the PP market was confirmed by the middle of August while the PE market followed suit later mostly because of the fact that Petkim’s shutdown at its cracker kept PE sentiment relatively firmer. New September offers have been revealed with decreases of up to US$30/ton in the PP market. Average import homo PP prices have posted a cumulative decrease of US$70/ton for raffia and US$63/ton for fibre since the Eid-holiday that took place in early August, according to ChemOrbis Price Index. “As we are not seriously looking for new cargoes, we are not giving firm bids. However, sentiment is quite weak and we feel we could easily achieve our bid levels as sellers are ready to give discounts both in the local and the import markets,” said a few buyers. “Lower prices are not enticing any new buying interest. Buyers are maintaining their waiting mood as they would like to see the real market level before purchasing. Once prices are clarified, activity may pick up a little,” commented a trader. Indeed, players concur that fibre demand is performing better than raffia. This is because the bcf/carpet sector is having a high season in the September-October period, although buyers are not fully satisfied with their end business. In the import PE market, relatively smaller decreases have been recorded in the overall ranges. According to ChemOrbis Price Index, a cumulative decrease of US$22/ton has been recorded for HDPE film while HDPE pipe and LLDPE are down by US$12-15/ton on average since early August. A source at a large Saudi producer, who usually sells out their allocation from the bonded warehouse in the first week after their price announcement, said, “We have not been able to sell any LLDPE so far as buyers do not want to accept our prices.” Traders also complain about seeing very little interest. “We are ready to provide discounts but we are not even receiving bids from buyers,” said two large traders. “It is now a buyers’ market. Our sales were pretty slow in August, although we hope to achieve better deals in September. This week the market may perform slowly again, but we think that buyers will return to the market in the second half of September to meet their requirements. A slight revival may arrive in line with the ChemOrbis Turkey 3rd Annual Meeting that will be held next Tuesday at the Four Seasons Bosphorus Hotel in Istanbul,” said another trader.