Saudi major globally applies significant drops on PE for Sept.

http://www.petrotahlil.com/en/tiny/news-43368

Petrotahlil:A Saudi Arabian major revealed its September offers with notable drops that ranged from $50/ton to $120/ton in global PE markets. The producer’s latest pricing was mainly stirred by mediocre demand across Asian and Mediterranean destinations along with the ongoing US-China trade dispute.

Hefty drops pioneered in China

The Saudi Arabian major reduced its September offers by $80/ton for LDPE film, by $70/ton for LLDPE C4 film from last month. The sellers’s HDPE offers witnessed larger decreases of $100/ton for blow molding and $110-120/ton for film grade, meanwhile.

“Import prices in China were down due to the re-escalation of trade tensions. The sharp depreciation of the yuan against the US dollar hurt demand for import cargoes. Plus, the prices of local and import cargoes are close to each other, pushing buyers to prefer local cargoes. Although we expect buying interest for PP and PE to improve in the last quarter, we think that a possible rebound will still not be strong," a Chinese trader opined.

Aggressive US PE offers exerted extra pressure on the producer in Turkey

In Turkey, the producer yielded to persistently thin buying interest and issued decreases of $50-60/ton from August.

“Regional PE sources had no choice but to reduce their new prices in response to mounting pressure from aggressive LLDPE and HDPE offers from the USA,” commented a player. In fact, American offers for both products broke below the $900/ton CFR Turkey threshold in early September, exerting a heavy downward pressure on Middle Eastern sellers.

Up to $90 decreases were unveiled in Egypt, North Africa

September PE offers from the Saudi major saw drops ranging between $30/ton and $90/ton when compared to their previous levels. Sources reported, “The producer is willing to lower its offers down further amid ample supplies and weak demand in the country.”

Muted demand kept the market trend on the weaker side in Morocco as the producer announced drops of €40-60/ton ($44-66/ton with the recent parity) for PE grades from its previous levels. Other Saudi PE suppliers followed the major’s policy since they applied up to $40-50/ton cuts in Jordan and Lebanon.

Producer cut Sept PE offers in its local market too

The producer also unveiled around $30/ton drops in its local PE market in response to tepid demand following Eid al-Adha holidays in August.

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