Poor demand prompts August's second reduction by Indian polypropylene producers

19-Aug-15

Amid weak demand, India's polypropylene producers reduced offers in the domestic market for the second time in August and also extended a price protection scheme for customers until August 31, as per sources in Platts. This follows a sharp decline in CFR South Asia prices, with PP raffia sliding US$55/mt from July 29 to be assessed at US$1095/mt on August 12. Reliance Industries Limited, Indian Oil Corporation and other major producers announced new domestic PP offers August 13 for September-loading cargoes, at around INR 81,000/mt ex-plant, which is equivalent to US$1105/mt on an import parity basis and down about INR 2000/mt (US$51/mt) from August 1 levels. "This is a down time as far as [PP] consumption is concerned," a major Indian producer said. "No deals have been heard in the last 5-10 day period, with the yuan [depreciation] crisis, and our own [Indian rupees] currency devaluation. No sentiment for buying," he added. The price protection scheme will cover domestic clients until August 31, whereby producers have agreed to refund the difference in purchase price if offers were lowered before the next scheduled offer announcement early September, according to industry sources. Indian producers generally issue fresh offers at the beginning of a month, unless prices move quickly enough to warrant a price correction during the month.