Weekly Polyolefins report Far East Asia

The third week of February saw improved activity in the spot market. Demand for Injection grades of both Polypropylene and Polyethylene was healthy as the spot market was crowded out by mid-week in expectation of higher forward week prices for upstream crude. Producers revised their offers mid-Month. All grades of HDPE and LLDPE were revised upwards by USD 0.04/lb while LDPE offers remained unchanged owing to relatively lower demand from the export market (China). Polypropylene Homopolymer grade offtakes were relatively lower in comparison to their Copolymer counterparts.

Spot prices of HDPE saw significant spikes with prices of Raffia, Injection and Film grades assessed at USD 0.03/KG higher than the previous week while price of Blow moulding grade saw a nominal increase of USD 0.01/KG. Polypropylene demand was stagnant with no buoyancy seen in the spot market although upstream Polymer grade propylene prices were up by USD 0.06-0.07/MT for the week. Ethylene monomer prices too were up significantly with price increasing by over 15% in the last two weeks. Exports to China were hampered due to freight congestion and clogging at major container terminals.

With far east Asian crude basket touching USD 95 per barrel early third week of February, Naphtha prices saw an increase of over USD 0.02 per barrel during the week exerting cost pressure on the monomer market. With crude prices expected to further rise in the month of March, demand for resin material is expected increase in the last week of February as converters would resort to stocking up material. Refiner margins continue to remain tight with naphtha crack spreads lower than May FY21 levels.