quarterlyssessments-q1-2020-china-pe-prices

SSESSMENTS.COM’s data showed that China domestic PE market started Q1 2020 with an uptrend. Due to firmer crude oil prices and stronger futures market, local PE offers increased week over week until the week commencing January 20. In this particular week, some market players started to leave their desk for Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. Therefore, local PE offers reported down by CNY50/ton ($7/ton) on a weekly comparison. In the final week of the month, the China market was at a standstill as the country was on Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. In February, local prices were on a downtrend due to high inventory pressure and the decline in futures prices. The cumulative reductions of local PE offers across all grades within the month was between CNY350-800/ton ($50-114/ton). In the first week of March, local PE offers were stable to a slight increase, but in the following weeks up to the end of the month, the offers continuously decreased. The plunge in crude oil prices on March 9 was a factor that first caused the decreases. Prices were unable to rebound up to the end of the month as buying sentiment weakened.

For import cargoes, the price trend in the first quarter of 2020 was mostly in line with the local price trend. The exception was only the adjustment applied on offers for HDPE Film and HDPE Blow Moulding from a Saudi producer at the beginning of February. Offers for the grades increased between $60-80/ton compared to the level before the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday. The tight supply from the producer’s end was cited as the reason behind the price increases. In March, SSESSMENTS.COM noted that offers for HDPE Film from the Middle East touched $700/ton on LC at sight, CIF China main port basis. Meanwhile, offers below $700/ton-level were already available for LLDPE Film C4. The lowest level for the grade was for Indonesian LLDPE Film C4, at $670/ton with the same payment and delivery terms.

Pertaining to demand, SSESSMENTS.COM was informed that during the first quarter of 2020, demand for PE in China was considered weak. In January, many buyers limited purchasing quantity to avoid keeping high inventory during the holiday. In February, Chinese converters had to delay the restart at the factory as the Coronavirus outbreak forced many parts of the country to extend the Lunar New Year holiday. Up to March, converters still faced the impacts of Coronavirus outbreak as the end-product sales to export destination countries sagged. The significant decreases in crude oil prices also further weakened buying sentiment.

On the supply side, PE supply in January was reported tight, particularly for import cargoes. Supply for HDPE from Formosa Plastics Corporation was tight due to production issues at the company’s plant stemming from electricity shortage. Meanwhile, allocation from SABIC to the China market slashed by 30% from normal quantity due to limited supply from the producer’s end. Coming back from the Lunar New Year holiday, market players reported to SSESSMENTS.COM that the inventory of the two major polyolefins producers in the country accumulated by 125,000 tons to 1.18 million tons as of February 6. Week over week, the inventory decreased, but by March 31, the level remained above 1 million-level, to be precise, at 1.175 million tons.

Entering Q2 2020, market players contacted by SSESSMENTS.COM believe that PE price movement and demand will depend on the movement of crude oil prices and the development of the Coronavirus outbreak in countries across the world.

Range of local/localized PE transactions in January on cash, EXW China basis (CNY terms include 13% VAT, all equivalent in USD excludes VAT)

Origin	Product	Transaction Type	Offers (CNY/ton)	Equivalent in USD/ton
China	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Given	7,300-7,500	918-943
China	HDPE Blow Moulding	Price List	7,350-7,450	924-937
Iran	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Given	7,400	931
China	HDPE Film	Price List	7,500-7,550	943-949
China	HDPE Film	Offer Given	7,400-7,800	931-981
Iran	HDPE Film	Offer Given	8,000	1,006
Kuwait	HDPE Film	Offer Given	8,100	1,019
Kuwait	HDPE Film	Sold	8,100	1,019
Middle East	HDPE Film	Offer Given	7,500-7,800	943-981
Qatar	HDPE Film	Offer Given	7,700	968
Saudi	HDPE Film	Offer Given	7,650-8,000	962-1,006
South Korea	HDPE Film	Offer Given	7,800	981
Taiwan	HDPE Film	Offer Given	8,100	1,019
Taiwan	HDPE Film	Sold	8,100	1,019
China	HDPE Pipe (PE 100)	Price List	8,100	1,019
China	HDPE Yarn	Price List	7,250-7,600	912-956
China	LDPE Film	Price List	7,900-8,600	993-1,081
China	LDPE Film	Offer Given	7,800-8,050	981-1,012
Iran	LDPE Film	Offer Given	8,100	1,019
Malaysia	LDPE Film	Offer Given	7,950-8,300	1,000-1,044
Middle East	LDPE Film	Offer Given	7,700-8,100	968-1,019
Saudi	LDPE Film	Offer Given	8,050-8,150	1,012-1,025
China	LDPE Film (CTO)	Sold	7,810-7,890	982-992
China	LLDPE Film C4	Price List	7,250-7,550	912-949
China	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	7,350-7,500	924-943
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	7,100-7,600	893-956
Saudi	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	7,600-7,750	956-975
Saudi	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	7,700	968
Saudi	LLDPE Film C4	Sold	7,450-7,500	937-943

Range of import PE transactions in January on CIF/CFR China Main Port basis

Origin	Product	Transaction Type	Offers (USD/ton)	Payment Term
Central Asia	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Given	800-810	TT
Central Asia	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Received	810-835	TT
Middle East	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Given	800-920	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Received	850	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Blow Moulding	Purchased	890	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Blow Moulding	Sold	860	LC at sight
North America	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Received	840	LC at sight
Central Asia	HDPE Film	Offer Given	820-875	TT
Central Asia	HDPE Film	Offer Received	820-865	TT
Far East Asia	HDPE Film	Offer Received	850-860	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Film	Offer Given	840-920	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Film	Offer Received	860-910	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Film	Bid Received	850-890	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Film	Purchased	890	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Film	Sell Idea	890	LC at sight
North America	HDPE Film	Offer Given	810	LC at sight
North America	HDPE Film	Offer Received	840	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	HDPE Film	Offer Given	940-945	LC at sight
Far East Asia	HDPE Yarn	Offer Given	845	LC at sight
Indian Subcontinent	HDPE Yarn	Sold	840-845	LC at sight
Central Asia	LDPE Film	Offer Given	865-870	TT
Central Asia	LDPE Film	Offer Received	870-910	TT
Middle East	LDPE Film	Offer Given	890-950	LC at sight
Middle East	LDPE Film	Offer Received	920-980	LC at sight
Central Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	805-810	TT
Central Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	820-855	TT
Indian Subcontinent	LLDPE Film C4	Sold	855-860	LC at sight
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	830-890	LC at sight
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Sold	850-860	LC at sight
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	840-900	LC at sight
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Bid Received	830-840	LC at sight
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Purchased	860	LC at sight
North America	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	815-820	LC at sight
North America	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	860	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	850-860	LC at sight
North America	mLLDPE C6	Offer Given	1,040-,1070	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	mLLDPE C6	Offer Given	1,140-1,160	LC at sight

Range of local/localized PE transactions in February on cash, EXW China basis (CNY terms include 13% VAT, all equivalent in USD excludes VAT)

Origin	Product	Transaction Type	Offers (CNY/ton)	Equivalent in USD/ton
China	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Given	7,100-7,300	893-918
China	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Received	7,450	937
China	HDPE Blow Moulding	Price List	6,800-7,250	855-912
India	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Given	6,950	874
Iran	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Given	7,100	893
Qatar	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Given	7,450	937
Saudi	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Given	6,950	874
Uzbekistan	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Given	7,250	912
China	HDPE Film	Price List	7,100-7,300	893-918
China	HDPE Film	Offer Given	6,750-7,800	849-981
Iran	HDPE Film	Offer Given	7,050-7,300	886-918
Kuwait	HDPE Film	Offer Given	7,500	943
Middle East	HDPE Film	Offer Given	7,250-7,800	912-981
Qatar	HDPE Film	Offer Given	7,550	949
Russia	HDPE Film	Offer Given	7,000	880
Saudi	HDPE Film	Offer Given	7,350-7,800	924-981
South Korea	HDPE Film	Offer Given	7,350	924
Uzbekistan	HDPE Film	Offer Given	6,900	868
China	HDPE Film (CTO)	Offer Given	6,850	861
China	HDPE Film (CTO)	Sold	6,950	874
China	HDPE Pipe (PE 100)	Price List	7,300-8,000	918-1,006
China	HDPE Pipe (PE 100)	Offer Given	7,200	905
China	HDPE Yarn	Offer Given	7,800	981
China	HDPE Yarn	Price List	7,000-7,500	880-943
India	HDPE Yarn	Offer Given	7,000-7,100	880-893
China	LDPE Film	Price List	7,400-8,100	931-1,019
China	LDPE Film	Offer Given	7,350-8,000	924-1,006
Iran	LDPE Film	Offer Given	7,500-7,600	943-956
Malaysia	LDPE Film	Offer Given	7,550-8,100	949-1,019
Middle East	LDPE Film	Offer Given	7,500-8,000	943-1,006
Qatar	LDPE Film	Offer Given	7,850-8,150	987-1,025
Saudi	LDPE Film	Offer Given	7,700-7,800	968-981
China	LDPE Film (CTO)	Offer Given	7,500-7,650	943-962
China	LDPE Film (CTO)	Sold	7,550	949
China	LLDPE Film C4	Price List	6,750-7,250	849-912
China	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	6,600-7,200	830-905
China	LLDPE Film C4	Sold	6,700-6,800	842-855
Brazil	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	6,950	874
Malaysia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	6,800-6,900	855-868
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	6,700-7,300	842-918
Qatar	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	7,250	912
Russia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	6,800-6,850	855-861
Saudi	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	7,100-7,650	893-962
Thailand	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	7,000	880
United Arab Emirates	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	7,800	981
China	LLDPE Film C4 (CTO)	Offer Given	6,850	861
China	LLDPE Film C4 (CTO)	Sold	6,850	861
South Korea	mLLDPE C6	Offer Given	8,500	1,069

Range of import PE transactions in February on CIF China Main Port basis

Origin	Product	Transaction Type	Offers (USD/ton)	Payment Term
Central Asia	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Given	795	TT
Central Asia	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Received	800-810	TT
Far East Asia	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Given	850-860	LC at sight
Far East Asia	HDPE Blow Moulding	Bid Received	750-760	LC at sight
Far East Asia	HDPE Blow Moulding	Sold	780	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Given	830	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Received	800-970	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Blow Moulding	Purchased	890	LC at sight
Central Asia	HDPE Film	Offer Given	810	TT
Central Asia	HDPE Film	Offer Received	810-830	TT
Central Asia	HDPE Film	Sold	828	TT
Middle East	HDPE Film	Offer Given	830-860	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Film	Offer Received	810-990	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Film	Buy Idea	780-800	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Film	Sold	830-840	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	HDPE Film	Offer Given	935	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	HDPE Film	Offer Received	935	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Pipe (PE 100)	Offer Received	1,160	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	HDPE Pipe (PE 100)	Offer Given	960	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	HDPE Pipe (PE 100)	Offer Received	915	LC at sight
Central Asia	HDPE Yarn	Offer Given	750	LC at sight
Far East Asia	HDPE Yarn	Offer Received	890-920	LC at sight
Indian Subcontinent	HDPE Yarn	Offer Given	820	LC at sight
Indian Subcontinent	HDPE Yarn	Offer Received	820-840	LC at sight
Indian Subcontinent	HDPE Yarn	Sold	820	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	HDPE Yarn	Offer Given	910-920	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	HDPE Yarn	Offer Received	910-920	LC at sight
Central Asia	LDPE Film	Offer Received	855-865	TT
Middle East	LDPE Film	Offer Given	870-930	LC at sight
Middle East	LDPE Film	Offer Received	870-915	LC at sight
Central Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	810	TT
Central Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	795-820	TT
Indian Subcontinent	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	800-810	LC at sight
Indian Subcontinent	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	800	LC at sight
Indian Subcontinent	LLDPE Film C4	Sold	800-810	LC at sight
Indian Subcontinent	LLDPE Film C4	Buy Idea	750	LC at sight
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	800-845	LC at sight
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Sold	830-835	LC at sight
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	810-880	LC at sight
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Purchased	810	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	880-930	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	880-930	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	mLLDPE C6	Offer Given	1,085	LC at sight

Range of local/localized PE transactions in March on cash, EXW China basis (CNY terms include 13% VAT, all equivalent in USD excludes VAT)

Origin	Product	Transaction Type	Offers (CNY/ton)	Equivalent in USD/ton
China	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Given	6,900-7,200	868-905
China	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Received	6,750-7,500	849-943
China	HDPE Blow Moulding	Price List	6,700-7,200	842-905
Uzbekistan	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Given	7,000	880
China	HDPE Film	Price List	6,900-7,250	868-912
China	HDPE Film	Offer Given	7,000-7,400	880-931
Iran	HDPE Film	Offer Received	6,100-6,400	767-805
Iran	HDPE Film	Sold	6,900-7,150	868-899
Malaysia	HDPE Film	Offer Given	7,100	893
Middle East	HDPE Film	Offer Given	6,400-7,550	805-949
Russia	HDPE Film	Offer Given	6,950	874
Saudi	HDPE Film	Offer Given	6,700-7,100	842-893
South Korea	HDPE Film	Offer Given	6,700	842
Taiwan	HDPE Film	Offer Given	7,750	975
Taiwan	HDPE Film	Offer Received	6,800	855
Thailand	HDPE Film	Offer Given	7,500	943
China	HDPE Pipe (PE 100)	Price List	7,250-7,800	912-981
China	HDPE Pipe (PE 100)	Offer Given	7,600	956
China	HDPE Yarn	Price List	6,500-7,300	817-918
India	HDPE Yarn	Offer Given	7,100	893
China	LDPE Film	Price List	6,900-8,200	868-1,031
China	LDPE Film	Offer Given	6,800-7,850	855-987
Malaysia	LDPE Film	Offer Given	7,100-7,700	893-968
Middle East	LDPE Film	Offer Given	6,400-7,900	805-993
Qatar	LDPE Film	Offer Given	7,450-7,900	937-993
Saudi	LDPE Film	Offer Given	7,000	880
China	LLDPE Film C4	Price List	5,850-7,300	736-918
China	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	5,850-7,200	736-905
China	LLDPE Film C4	Sold	5,450-6,700	685-842
Brazil	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	5,800	729
Indonesia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	6,800	855
Indonesia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	6,000	754
Malaysia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	6,150-6,700	773-842
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	6,300-7,200	792-905
Qatar	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	7,150	899
Russia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	6,550-6,700	824-842
Saudi	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	6,750-7,350	849-924
Saudi	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	6,300	792
China	LLDPE Film C4 (CTO)	Offer Given	6,650-6,750	836-849

Range of import PE transactions in March on CIF/CFR China Main Port basis

Origin	Product	Transaction Type	Offers (USD/ton)	Payment Term
Central Asia	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Received	760-810	TT
Middle East	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Given	820-845	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Received	780-800	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Blow Moulding	Bid Given	760	LC at sight
North America	HDPE Blow Moulding	Offer Received	855*	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	HDPE Blow Moulding	Purchased	810-820	LC at sight
Central Asia	HDPE Film	Offer Received	760-830	TT
Far East Asia	HDPE Film	Offer Given	840-845	LC at sight
Far East Asia	HDPE Film	Offer Received	720-750	LC at sight
Far East Asia	HDPE Film	Sold	750	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Film	Offer Given	700-865	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Film	Offer Received	720-940	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Film	Buy Idea	760-770	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Film	Purchased	730-770	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Film	Sold	760-850	LC at sight
North America	HDPE Film	Offer Given	780-800	LC at sight
North America	HDPE Film	Offer Received	810-890	LC at sight
North America	HDPE Film	Sold	780-800	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	HDPE Film	Offer Given	750-870	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	HDPE Film	Offer Received	740-830	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	HDPE Film	Purchased	830	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	HDPE Film	Sold	800	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Pipe (PE 100)	Offer Given	870	LC at sight
Middle East	HDPE Pipe (PE 100)	Offer Received	900	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	HDPE Pipe (PE 100)	Offer Given	865	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	HDPE Pipe (PE 100)	Offer Received	865-890	LC at sight
Far East Asia	HDPE Yarn	Offer Received	770	LC at sight
Indian Subcontinent	HDPE Yarn	Offer Received	790-810	LC 90 Days
Indian Subcontinent	HDPE Yarn	Offer Received	790	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	HDPE Yarn	Offer Given	880	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	HDPE Yarn	Offer Received	800	LC at sight
Central Asia	LDPE Film	Offer Received	850-860	TT
Indian Subcontinent	LDPE Film	Offer Given	820	LC at sight
Indian Subcontinent	LDPE Film	Offer Received	850	LC at sight
Indian Subcontinent	LDPE Film	Sold	820	LC at sight
Middle East	LDPE Film	Offer Given	800-900	LC at sight
Middle East	LDPE Film	Offer Received	800-900	LC at sight
Middle East	LDPE Film	Buy Idea	800-810	LC at sight
Middle East	LDPE Film	Purchased	860	LC at sight
Middle East	LDPE Film	Sold	890-900	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	LDPE Film	Offer Given	885	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	LDPE Film	Offer Received	820-840	LC at sight
Central Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	7750-810	TT
Far East Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	710-750	LC at sight
Far East Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	740	LC 90 Days
Far East Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Bid Received	700	LC at sight
Far East Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Buy Idea	620	LC at sight
Far East Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Purchased	740-750	LC 90 Days
Indian Subcontinent	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	690-700	LC at sight
Indian Subcontinent	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	690-800	LC at sight
Indian Subcontinent	LLDPE Film C4	Sold	690-700	LC at sight
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	690-850	LC at sight
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Sold	750-850	LC at sight
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	710-980	LC at sight
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Bid Received	750	LC at sight
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Buy Idea	700	LC at sight
Middle East	LLDPE Film C4	Sell Idea	830	LC at sight
North America	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	680-870	LC at sight
North America	LLDPE Film C4	Purchased	790	LC at sight
North America	LLDPE Film C4	Sold	780-790	LC at sight
South America	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	790	LC at sight
South America	LLDPE Film C4	Buy Idea	740-750	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Given	770-860	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Offer Received	690-860	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Bid Given	680	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Buy Idea	740-750	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Purchased	670-740	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	LLDPE Film C4	Sold	770	LC at sight
Southeast Asia	mLLDPE C6	Offer Received	1,030-1,055	LC at sight

Description: * Offers on CFR basis

QuarterlySSESSMENTS: Q1 2020 China PE Prices

Author: SSESSMENTS

QuarterlySSESSMENTS: Q1 2020 China PE Prices

Author: SSESSMENTS

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