China Morning Snapshot – 24 February 2021

Dalian Commodity Exchange opened the new trading day on a weak note and managed to rebound toward the end of the morning session.

Details on the spot and futures prices are shown in the following table:

Total inventories at Sinopec and CNPC’s warehouses digested 15,000 tons from the previous trading day to 875,000 tons as of 24 February 2021.

Local traders started to cut spot PP and PE offers due to the persistently soft demand condition. Sources said that manufacturers in the Northern China area are selling stocks on-hand due to the squeezed profit margins, causing very sluggish activities.

“The prices have been overshot over the past several trading days, which manufacturers could not accept while end product demand has yet to recover. Further price reductions are necessary to attract purchasing interest in the local market,” a trader explained. The source added that unless sellers focus fully on the export market.