Local, import PP prices move higher in South East Asia

In Southeast Asia, tight supply along with strong demand from China have helped push spot PP prices higher over the past week, as per Chemorbis. Sellers in the region say that they are feeling confident of their ability to conclude deals at higher prices in the coming weeks, while buyers countered that they expect to see some relief on prices later this month as the restart of some PP plants in the region is expected to ease the current supply concerns. In the import market, spot offers for homo-PP injection and raffia gained US$50-60/ton over the past week on a CIF SEA, cash equivalent basis as a number of overseas sellers revised their offers upward in accordance with the US$55-90/ton increases announced on overseas producers’ initial November offers to the region. A Middle Eastern producer claimed to have concluded some initial November deals for homo-PP last week at prices US$60/ton above their October done deal level while adding that they are now planning to seek additional increases of US$10-30/ton this week, pointing to limited regional availability as support for their price targets. A woven bag manufacturer in Indonesia reported to have received a November offer for raffia from another Middle Eastern producer with an increase of US$60/ton when compared with the most recent offers they received from the producer, with the converter adding that they are not interested in this offer as they find the transit time to be too long. A distributor in Malaysia stated that they announced their November offers for Singaporean homo-PP injection at prices US$80/ton above their October offer levels in accordance with similar price increases announced by their supplier. PP prices also moved higher in Southeast Asia’s local markets over the past week, with sellers once again attributing their price increases to limited availability. After seeing increases of US$5-20/ton last week, a domestic producer in Indonesia opened the current week by announcing an increase of US$20/ton on their offers for homo-PP. The producer predicted that domestic prices would continue to move higher in Indonesia over the medium term as they do not believe that the current supply difficulties are likely to be relieved soon. In Malaysia, initial November offers for domestic material were announced with increases of MYR160-200/ton (US$51-64/ton) from the mid-October offer levels. Distributors commented that trading activity is limited in the local market for now and that no deals have been concluded for November so far. Players in Thailand also reported seeing higher prices this week as a result of ongoing regional supply difficulties, with distributors reporting that they raised their prices by around THB500/ton (US$17/ton) over the past week. Converters in Thailand reported that they are not planning to purchase beyond their regular monthly needs as they are not feeling confident regarding the medium term direction of the market. Higher prices in the Southeast Asian market were also a reflection of strengthening price trends in China, where domestic producers opened the week by announcing increases of CNY200-300/ton ($30-45/ton) on their homo-PP offers on the back of rising futures market prices and generally bullish market sentiment.