Asian PS sellers resume hikes to China, SE Asia

Several PS suppliers in Asia increased their offers to China and Southeast Asia again this week due to higher upstream costs. PS prices took a break from the firming trend that was in place for the previous four weeks. However, players reported that demand was unsupportive particularly in Southeast Asia, with most regional buyers showing resistance to higher prices.

A Taiwanese producer implemented weekly increases of $30-40/ton on its GPPS offers while lifting HIPS by around $20/ton, commenting, “Despite unsupportive demand, we had to raise our offers further as spot styrene prices continue to gain ground in Asia.” The producer’s offers currently stand at $1430-1440/ton for GPPS and at $1500-1530/ton for HIPS, all on CIF China/SEA, cash basis.

A Vietnamese producer raised its PS offers by $10/ton from last week while a Thai producer applied larger hikes of $40-50/ton.

A converter in Indonesia received $40/ton higher PS offers from its Singaporean supplier at $1510/ton for GPPS and at $1570/ton for HIPS, on CIF, cash basis. The buyer said, “Prices gained further ground due to higher upstream costs. We find the current offer levels to be too high and limit our purchases according to our urgent needs.”

When compared to Southeast Asia, demand in China was slightly better given the imminent start of the preparation season for Chinese New Year.

A trader in China noted, “We lifted our PS offers in line with the ongoing uptrend of styrene and crude oil prices. Demand for GPPS is better than HIPS in line with buying interest particularly from the Chinese market.”

In China, the overall ranges for import PS prices are currently reported at $1400-1510/ton for GPPS injection and at $1470-1580/ton for HIPS injection, all on CIF China, cash equivalent basis. Meanwhile, overall import prices in Southeast Asia currently stand at $1410-1540/ton for GPPS and at $1500-1600/ton for HIPS, on CIF, cash basis.