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The recent rebound in import PET bottle market in Southeast Asia proved short-lived this week as major Chinese suppliers decided to step back on the price list with hope to stimulate demand in the region. While most attempted to hold prices above the $900/ton threshold, a couple has offered additional discounts to close deals below the mark.

At the time this report is published, Chinese PET bottle based on CIF Southeast Asia, LC AS term stands in the range $890-995/ton.

Regional buyers, however, do not appear very excited about the reduction and in contrast to suppliers’ hope, many decided to just wait-and-see on the sideline. 

“Our end product demand is picking up due to the year-end festive season. Suppliers are reducing the offers, yet we think the market still has room to move lower in the near term. Hence, we would only buy small quantity,” a Vietnamese converter said. Meanwhile, a larger scale converter said he has purchased comfortable stock at lower prices previous to cover production need until January 2020.

Chinese suppliers also complain about the sluggish demand condition despite the latest price cuts, pointing to the fact that customers have already stocked up inventories at the previous lows.

“Demand in India market might drop significantly by the final quarter of the year following the ban on the single-used plastics products, including plastics bottle. More cargoes would flow into Southeast Asia, which would result in hyper-competition in the region,” a supplier added. 

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China  India  Indonesia  Vietnam