Thin buying interest for PE, PP in Latin America

19-Nov-13

Petrochemical market participants in Latin America are hesitant to buy either polyethylene or polypropylene at the moment, as per sources in Platts. With the expectation that prices will drop by December, multiple traders, distributors and buyers from Colombia, Brazil, Argentina and other countries are in wait-and-watch mode. The outlook for Q1-2014 is uncertain. Prices were expected to largely drop a good amount by the end of 2013 but it did not happen. Prices might be stable in the coming weeks, but at the moment there is no demand for prices rise. A buyer from Colombia also said that prices, mainly for PP, might be flat. For polyethylene, the market might be a little bit more unstable due to supply problems in US and Asia. Some current offers toward Latin America were heard during APLA. LDPE offers from the US were heard at US$1670/mt CFR Colombia, while HDPE grades from South Korea were heard at US$1580/mt CFR Colombia. LLDPE from the US was traded at US$1540/mt CFR Colombia. As per a Brazilian trader, the sentiment in Brazil is quite pessimistic.