CommoPlast Opinion Article

Closing prices, previous trading day. Monomers show direction only. Other monomers than naphtha are unavailable today.

Indonesian producer lifts PE prices after a rollover just hours earlier as import benchmarks firm

Indonesia's major domestic producer issued a second price revision on the afternoon of 17 September, lifting PE grades broadly by more than IDR 500,000/ton within hours of its morning list, while PP and mPE C6 levels were rolled over. The swift midday move reflects an effort to keep local pricing aligned with rapidly firming Southeast Asian import offers, driven by higher upstream benchmarks and Middle East logistics concerns.

Buyers remain cautious despite the adjustment, with converters running at 70-80% utilisation and sticking to as-needed purchasing rather than building forward positions. With regional import costs still climbing and converters watching energy cues closely, another realignment looks more likely than a pause if overseas offers keep outpacing the domestic sheet..

Suez return gathers pace even as Houthis tighten grip on Red Sea chokepoint

Container carriers are accelerating their return to the Suez Canal even as Yemen's Houthi militants tighten control over the Bab al-Mandeb chokepoint at the Red Sea's southern entrance, having seized a strategic island and port city in recent days. Maersk and Hapag-Lloyd are shifting four more services onto the Suez route, joining two other Gemini alliance services already restored, while MSC, Cosco, and OOCL are also resuming transits, following CMA CGM's earlier moves back to the corridor.

Suez-routed capacity between Asia and Europe has climbed to just over a quarter of deployed capacity, up from 17% in early August, with Sea-Intelligence estimating 27% of September Asia-Europe capacity moving through the corridor. Carriers are showing a particular preference for restoring backhaul services, with the Mediterranean leading the return at 57% of September backhaul capacity against 27% from Northern Europe, even as the Houthis' July blockade declaration against Saudi shipping complicates the security picture.

The decline in freight rates on these lanes does not signal a full normalisation of physical logistics, however. Carriers say crossings have stayed problem-free so far, though the group's intentions toward other nations' vessels remain something industry executives can't fully guarantee.

Brent CRUDE · $/BBL		WTI CRUDE · $/BBL
104.82		101.91
▼1.01		▼0.52

Morning Briefing - 18 September 2026