April ABS prices from Far East Asia note sharp decreases in Turkey

Far East Asian ABS producers issued their new prices for April shipment cargos to Turkey. The recent announcements represented three digit decreases changing between $100-150/ton from last March levels.

Two South Korean ABS producers applied $100-150/ton decreases for the new month bringing the overall ABS natural range down to $1900-1920/ton CIF Turkey, cash no duty. ABS white offers, meanwhile, emerged at $2080/ton with the same terms, down $70/ton month over month.

A trader commented, “These prices still need to decline by around $150-200/ton taking the recent production costs in Asia into account. We have not been replacing material during the last couple of months and prefer to go back to back instead.” Another player opined, “No one is willing to replenish long distance cargos. However, as we don’t have much quantity on hand left, we will negotiate with the producer to obtain additional discounts and purchase some ABS.”

A Taiwanese ABS maker applied $115/ton drops for April, in the meantime. The supplier’s most recent list prices were reported at $1850/ton for ABS natural and $2000/ton for ABS white, both CIF Turkey, subject to 6.5% customs duty, cash.

Spot styrene prices on a FOB South Korea basis were last reported at around $1160/ton, mostly stable on the week but $185/ton below early March levels. Spot butadiene costs dropped by $50/ton to $1750/ton with the same terms week over week, while they sank $1250/ton throughout March.