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The PP market in Indonesia has been following the softening trend over an extended period of time amid slower than expected demand condition. Domestic sellers attempted to stimulate buying interest by keeping local prices below import offers since early April, which added pressure on import ground.

This week, Philippines homo-PP offered in the range $1090-1100/ton CIF Indonesia, LC AS term, some $20-30/ton reduction from the previous week, yet Indonesian buyers appear to be not very eager to make replenishment. “The fact is that local traders are offering homo-PP yarn in the range $1130-1140/ton excluding VAT, delivered term, which is relatively more attractive than import materials. Room for further reduction is now really narrow, yet we prefer to take cautious stance and source small quantity in local market,” a converter said.

Other buyers are also expressing similar intention, causing a general slow down in the import ground. “Ramadan is near and we are not confident about the near term market outlook, hence we prefer not to procure shipment cargoes,” another converter added.

This condition might extent into June, players said, since demand during the fasting month is normally weaker than usual. “Which lead us to a projection that market might only pick up in July,” a domestic producer said.

Import homo-PP to Indonesia currently stand at $1090-1110/ton CIF Indonesia, LC AS term. Meanwhile, local cargoes are offered at $1130-1210/ton excluding VAT, FD Indonesia, with the upper end of the range refer to producer’s price list only.