China Morning Snapshot – 16 April 2018

September delivery contracts on Dalian Commodity Exchange ended the morning session on relatively firm notes compared to last Friday. PP futures gained CNY60/ton ($10/ton) to CNY9065/ton ($1234/ton without VAT) while LLDPE contract added CNY15/ton ($2/ton) to CNY9295/ton ($1265/ton without VAT).

There have not been any major changes in term of spot offers for both PP and PE in the domestic ground. Spot homo-PP in Eastern China remained at CNY8850-8950/ton ($1204-1218/ton without VAT) while LLDPE film in Northern China is ranging CNY‎9400-9650/ton ($1279-1313/ton without VAT), all based on EXW China, cash equivalent.

Over the weekend, total PP and PE inventories at Sinopec and CNPC piled up 70,000 tons to approximate 860,000 tons as of 16 April 2018. Buyers are actively checking on the new offers, however, very few deals have been achieved. “We expect local producers to keep offers steady in the coming days considering the heavy maintenance shutdown schedule that tighten local supply. However, demand is not supporting any strong rebound,” a trader said.