Propylene spot prices plunge in second consecutive week

02 Nov '10

2 min read

The spot prices of propylene too fell in Asia for the second consecutive week, mainly due to abundant supply and price decline in China's domestic market.

November price outlook looks dim, due to continued excessive supply in Southeast Asia and due to restart of crackers in Northeast Asia.

In Northeast Asia, stock price fell $30-55 to US $1160-1185 / ton (CFR Northeast Asia), due to reduced buying interest over abundant supply.

In Southeast Asia, spot price fell $10 to $1100-1120 / ton (CFR South East Asia). Trade was light, because most end-users have completed their needs through contracts. In the FOB Southeast Asian market, purchase intention was $1010-1020 / ton (FOB South East Asia).

In the FOB Northeast Asian market, a transaction was reached at $1,125 / ton (FOB Korea), but details are not available. Purchase intention was $1100/ ton (FOB Korea), while sales intention was $1,100/ ton (FOB Korea).

Propylene price (ex-warehouse) fell to 9,750 Yuan / ton in Eastern China. Offers for this week from Sinopec fell 150 Yuan / ton, due to stock pressure, but the news has not been confirmed.

Demand from downstream PP and PO manufacturers failed to support purchase interest from buyers in the week, as end-users had basically completed their November needs. Larger spread between offers and bids hindered market activity on the week.

No - 1 naphtha cracker of Formosa Petrochemical, with a capacity of 700,000 tons / year, at Mailiao restarted in mid-October and has realized an operating rate at about 80 percent. The No - 1 cracker of South Korea's SK Energy, with a capacity of 190,000 tons / year, will restart by about the end of November, after having been idle for two years.

Customs data show China's propylene imports in September fell 21 percent from August to 81,455 tons and declined by 33 percent over the same period last year.

Fibre2fashion News Desk

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