Local PE market in Vietnam softened, improved supply to be blamed

It is reported that domestic traders in Vietnam are cutting HDPE and LLDPE film offers by VND300,000/ton ($13/ton) compared to last week as local supply seems improved following the arrival of previously purchased cargoes at lower costs. Both locally held Saudi Arabia HDPE and LLDPE film cargoes are traded at VND30,000,000-30,500,000/ton ($1200-1220/ton without VAT), FD Vietnam, cash term.

Players informed that several major local traders are facing tight cash flow, decided to release the lower costs cargoes to the market with discount, leading to a massive suspicion among buyers. “Many other traders are still attempting to maintain offers unchanged from last week, however, we decided not to make any additional purchases until the situation become clearer,” a flexible packaging converter reported.

“Sales are slower on the first trading day of the week and buyers might begin hard negotiation soon. We are also concern that international traders are releasing positioned cargoes at much lower level than official price list from producer, leading market to a chaos condition,” a local trader informed.

Local supply is expected to continue improving with more cargoes arrival anticipated in the coming weeks. Buyers are now have a better choice of sourcing materials from domestic traders, therefore any further hike attempts from overseas sellers might face stiff resistance in Vietnam.