China Morning Snapshot – 21 May 2018

After a floppy trading week, Dalian Commodity Exchange started to regain its momentum. September delivery contracts for both PP and PE rebounded sharply by the end of today’s morning session. PP futures gained CNY133/ton ($21/ton) to CNY9340/ton ($1262/ton without VAT) while LLDPE increased CNY75/ton ($12/ton) to CNY9445/ton ($1276/ton without VAT). 

The recovery of futures market has drawn arbitrage traders back to the market, creating a healthy sentiment in the spot ground this morning. However, in term of prices, spot PP and PE have not seen any major movement. 

Spot homo-PP in Eastern China remains at CNY9150-9250/ton ($1236-1250/ton without VAT), while spot LLDPE film in Northern China stands at CNY9550-9700/ton ($1290-1311/ton without VAT), all based on EXW China, cash equivalent.

“We decided to withdraw all the discount schemes given earlier to monitor further development on futures market before making any decision. We hope purchasing activities would continue to improve in the coming days,” a trader informed.