Middle Eastern PP Offers for January Have Come Down in Asia and Egypt

Middle Eastern PP offers for January have come down from their December levels in Asia and Egypt in line with sluggish buying interest and the approaching Chinese New Year holiday which will take place in the last week of January. A Saudi Arabian producer had initially announced their January prices to China with $90/ton decreases for PP raffia and with $30/ton drops for PP block copolymer injection. The seller, who allocated 10,000 tons of PP to China for January, wrapped up their business for the month after conceding to additional decreases of $10/ton for homo-PP and $20-40/ton for PP block copolymer injection. Now, the supplier’s January deals are indicating a cumulative drop of $100/ton for PP raffia and a $50-70/ton cut for PP block copolymer injection when compared to their December offers. A trader offering on behalf of the Saudi Arabian producer reported selling their PP raffia cargoes to converters while selling their PP block copolymer injection offers to both traders and converters. The same producer also concluded deals for homo-PP in the Southeast Asian market with decreases of $110-130/ton from their December levels. Another major Saudi Arabian producer revealed their January sell idea to China with noticeable decreases of $110/ton for PP raffia and injection with respect to their December prices. “However, we receive even lower counterbids from buyers and therefore, despite our large decrease amounts, we are mulling over offering additional discounts if we see serious buying interest,” he further added. Meanwhile, the producer has started to offer small amounts of PP block copolymer to China while adding that they are planning to raise their PP block copolymer quotas to the country gradually as of next year. In Egypt, Middle Eastern producers also started to announce their January prices to the market while their new prices follow a similar trend like in Asia. A regional producer issued $20/ton price cuts on their PP raffia, PP injection and PP block copolymer offers while lowering their PP random copolymer offers by $40/ton when compared to their most recent December levels. A trader offering on behalf of the seller had earlier reported that they could revise down their prices if the rest of the Middle Eastern producers come with more competitive prices than their offer levels. By the time of publishing, there were reports suggesting that even lower Middle Eastern prices have started to enter the market and the abovementioned regional producer has adjusted down their prices in accordance with their earlier remarks, although it was not yet confirmed with the producer. Judging by the bearish market sentiment, triggered by the weak buying interest, Egyptian players say they expect even lower prices to emerge from the region, highlighting the relatively lower Middle Eastern prices in China. Source: www.chemorbis.com