Export PET from China continue to soften

It is reported that couples of Chinese PET producers have announced export PET offers at $10-20/ton decreased from last week, reaching $950/ton FOB China, LC AS term. Such reduction is blamed to the persistent weak demand across Asia regional and falling upstream costs.

A producer added, “We are very disappointed with the current state of demand. Even in local China market, buying interest in not very strong at the moment. Many converters prefer to take wait and see stance given the Tomb Sweeping Festival ahead. We therefore, are not very optimistic about the near term market outlook.”

Another supplier commented, “We were initially hoping that a series of PTA and MEG plants shutdown would push upstream costs higher, yet it does not seem to be happening. Our customers in Indonesia are preparing to enter the Ramadan season and we hope this would ignite buying interest in this country in the coming days.”

Both MEG and PTA costs based on CFR China term have slid another $40 and $10/ton respectively from previous weeks, which encourage regional buyers to take wait and see stance. Players are generally hoping that more discount would emerge in the near term before making larger purchases.