Prices for imported PP top domestic material in China

After six consecutive weeks during which domestic prices for polypropylene carried a premium over imported material, the cost of imported PP to processors has risen above that of the local material. Pushing the change has been the willingness of local distributors and producers to offer discounts in order to conclude deals.

This all shared with PlasticsToday by plastics pricing service ChemOrbis (Istanbul, Turkey). According to ChemOrbis, domestic PP prices reached their highest premium above imported material during the second week of November, after adding customs duties to the import prices but ignoring clearing and handling charges. Local prices also do not include the VAT. Over the past two weeks, however, import prices steadily gained ground against domestic prices until the import market surpassed the domestic market last week.
 
Distributors and producers in China were willing to reduce their offers by CNY50-200/ton ($8-30/ton) to get their deals closed before the end of the year. Demand was said to be sluggish over the past week, reported ChemOrbis, with most processor unwilling to purchase beyond their immediate needs. Concerns over the possibility that the Chinese Central Bank may enact further monetary tightening measures also took their toll on buying interest in the domestic market.
 
Meanwhile, traders offering overseas materials either left their offers unchanged or attempted slight increases of around $10/ton in accordance with rising upstream costs. Import sellers told ChemOrbis they did not want to reduce their current offers as they do not believe that doing so would result in any appreciable rise in sales while higher propylene feedstock costs, persistently firm crude oil and naphtha prices, as well as comparatively limited availability, all support the sell side of the equation.