Post holiday sentiment remains steady in China

As Chinese players return to their desks after the holiday, there are very limited number of new offers observed in the market, yet traders are holding very firm stance on their cargoes, both PP and PE.

Buyers are not aggressive in making fresh purchases yet; however it appears that replenishment is necessary. A trader offered Thailand HDPE film at $1170-1180/ton CFR China, LC AS term commented, “We keep our offers unchanged from the pre-holiday period and managed to conclude some quantity. We hope buying interest would continue to improve in the coming days.”

January would be a short working month consider several major holidays on the calendar, therefore, would there be pre-Lunar New Year replenishment activities, it shall take place within first two weeks of the month, players said. To support such expectation, traders are pointing to the delivery issues during the holiday period, which might urge converters to make early purchases.

“PP supply is still relatively tight compared to PE and we think market might hold steady in the coming week. Our only concern is the constantly falling futures market that could affect buyer’s confidence.”