China Morning Snapshot: 21 December 2017

Dalian Commodity Exchange concluded the morning session on rather soft notes. Most actively traded contract 1805 for LLDPE slip CNY15/ton ($2/ton) to CNY9640/ton ($1248/ton without VAT) while PP contract added CNY2/ton only, reaching CNY9242/ton ($1197/ton without VAT).

Eastern China market remains largely stable day on day, with spot homo-PP stands in the range CNY‎9100-9350/ton ($1178-1211/ton without VAT), EXW China, cash equivalent.

In Northern China, traders continue offering CNY50/ton ($8/ton) discount on spot LLDPE film cargoes, bringing latest price range to ‎CNY9550-9650/ton ($1237-1250/ton without VAT), with the same term.

The steam in local market observed earlier this week has now loosened. Converters are not actively responding to the fluctuation in futures trading, instead persisting in the hand-to-mouth purchasing strategy. Deals reported for both PP and PE are thinner now, and most taking place at the lower end of the overall price range only. This could possibly pressure suppliers, whose offers stand at the upper end, to offers discounts in the coming days.