Middle Eastern producers track divergent PP, PE pricing policies in Egypt

Middle Eastern producers started to reveal their new October PP and PE prices to Egypt. For both polymers, downward price adjustments were expected given the globally decreasing trend as well as the weak demand, as per ChemOrbis. In the PP market, producers’ pricing policies were consistent with the expectations although PE prices came as a surprise to the market players. Middle Eastern producers’ new announcements indicate decreases of US$30-50/ton on CIF Alexandria, 90 days deferred payment basis. These new prices are in line with the earlier expectations mentioned in Egypt’s PP Polymer Digest while they are coherent with the globally decreasing trend and weak demand. Despite these drops, buyers still complain that they did not find the decrease amounts satisfying while adding that they will try to achieve further discounts from the regional producers, pointing to their slow trading activities. In the PE market, Middle Eastern producers’ new price announcements surprised market players who were expecting decreases amidst lower global market prices and thin demand. Contrarily, producers mostly elected to follow a stable to firmer trend for October. A major regional producer kept LDPE and LLDPE film prices stable at their September levels while their new HDPE prices indicate rollovers to US$30/ton increases for HDPE film, stable to US$10/ton higher levels for HDPE blow moulding and stable to US$10/ton lower trend for HDPE injection. Meanwhile, another not very active producer, has expressed sell ideas at a rollover from initial September sell ideas. The producer acknowledges sell ideas are at the top end of the overall LDPE film range but they preferred to follow other regional producers’ pricing strategies despite the globally declining trend. “However, considering the current global economic conditions we might struggle to conclude sales in October and therefore, we are open to negotiations in return for firm bids for large quantities,” he further commented. According to a source from the producer, Turkish LDPE is also available in the import market with sufficient supplies at levels much below the regular Middle Eastern sources’ prices. Although this information has not been confirmed by the time of publishing, Egypt’s distribution market has been welcoming this very origin at the low end of the locally held range for the past two weeks. A different Middle Eastern producer also rolled over their October HDPE film and blow moulding offers from September levels. The producer is experiencing shipment problems which have caused some delays in their deliveries. “Some of our customers, who previously purchased materials, are still waiting for their cargoes to arrive,” admitted a source from the company. Therefore, the producer is not offering widely in the market. Buyers receiving PE prices from the Middle Eastern producers are complaining that such pricing policies are not fair when the global trend is all about decreases. Therefore, they are not planning to make fresh purchases before being able to obtain some decreases on the offer levels.