Bearish trend persists in July for PP, PE in Mid-East, Africa.

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Petrotahlil:PP and PE suppliers have approached the Middle-East and Africa markets mostly with decreases for July, although there were also rollovers in fits and starts, as was the case in June. Players have mostly blamed thin buying interest for the ongoing decreases across regional markets.

Saudi major cuts PE, PP offers to local market

A major Saudi producer lowered its July offers for almost all PP and PE grades by around SAR75-265/ton ($20-70/ton) when compared to last month. At this point, homo PP injection became an exception due to shorter supply from a production issue at the producer’s PP injection line.

"The new levels emerged in line with our expectations amid bearish global PE markets. Yet, players prefer to remain cautious due to slow final products sales and unclear price direction for near-term," a company source commented.

Decreases fail to stir demand in UAE

A local producer in the United Arab Emirates applied decreases of $70-100/ton on its July PP and PE offers to its local market.

Emirati players also reported receiving July PP and PE offers from a major Saudi producer with monthly decreases ranging between $40/ton and $70/ton. The only grade that remained stable from last month was LLDPE C4 film.

“The recent price reductions have failed to revive market activities as players are still struggling with liquidity issues and limiting their purchases amid weak final product sales," a distributor opined.

Price reductions dominate PP, PE markets in Lebanon, Jordan

In Lebanon, a Middle Eastern supplier announced decreases ranging from$20/ton to $60/ton for PE grades when compared to last month.

In Jordan, a major Saudi producer’s PP offers were down by $30/ton while PE offers saw decreases from $10/ton to $90/ton from June.

Mid-Eastern PE offers stable to lower in Egypt

A major Saudi producer approached Egypt with rollovers for LDPE film while cutting its LLDPE and HDPE film offers by $10-20/ton and $90/ton from last month, respectively.

A converter operating in Cairo noted that they were already expecting to see decreases on the major producer’s July offers and added, “We think that there is room for further reductions on deals.”

Local producers in Egypt apply different pricing for HDPE film and b/m

Two local PE producers in Egypt, ETHYDCO and SIDPEC, also announced their local PE offers this week.

ETHYDCO’s July HDPE film and b/m offers were lower by EGP600/ton ($35/ton) from last month while SIDPEC rolled over its fresh HDPE film and b/m offers due to relatively better demand.

For HDPE inj., ETHYDCO’s July offers indicated a monthly loss of EGP1000/ton ($59/ton) while SIDPEC applied a larger decrease of EGP1500/ton ($90/ton).

Nigeria’s ELEME rolls over PP, PE; but import offers to Nigeria slump

In Nigeria, the local producer ELEME revealed its July offers with rollovers for all PP and PE grades. This has been the second consecutive month that the producer kept its prices unchanged.

A company source noted that demand in the country is muted due to heavy rains.

Contrary to the local producer, import PE offers from a Saudi major are revealed with decreases. PP showed up with smaller decreases of $10/ton from last month. The decreases applied on LDPE and LLDPE ranged from $20/ton to $60/ton while HDPE was offered $100/ton lower from June.

High stocks, weak demand push PP, PE down in Kenya

In Kenya, a major Saudi producer’s July PP and PE offers posted decreases of up to $80/ton when compared to June.

The agent of the major producer underlined that stock levels in the market are high and buyers are not eager to make fresh purchases as they are not confident about the near-term market trend.

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