Polypropylene markets in 2013

04-Jan-14

In 2013, China celebrated its New Year holiday in the second week of February (week 7). The local PP market in the country fluctuated rapidly between the start of December 2012 until the end of the Chinese New Year as per the pricing service of ChemOrbis. Local homo-PP prices in China fell at the end of the calendar year 2012 before rising at the beginning of 2013. Prices fell again prior to the Chinese New Year holiday before sellers took a firmer stance a couple of weeks before the holiday break. The rising trend in the local market, however, was not sustained after the holiday and local prices came back down again at the end of February. The up and down trend in local prices was the result of rising feedstock costs versus Chinese players’ nervousness about market conditions as a result of the holiday, which led buyers to occasionally step out and wait for direction and sellers to offer discounts when they became unsure of demand conditions before and after the holiday. The import PP market, nevertheless, showed a generally rising trend throughout the period except for a short dip at the very end of the calendar year 2012. The price trend on PP imports was upward until the Chinese New Year holiday and continued higher right after the holiday as there was upward pressure stemming from rising propylene costs. The import PP markets in Southeast Asia and Turkey all but ignored the fluctuating local market in China and followed China’s import market higher over the same time period. Following the Chinese New Year holiday, however, the import PP market could not resist the downward pull of the local market inside China and import prices fell starting at the end of February 2013. Import PP prices into Southeast Asia and Turkey followed a similar trend after the Chinese New Year holiday, falling through the end of February and into early March, according to ChemOrbis.