Asian producers cut ABS, PS offers to China, SE Asia

Several Asian producers approached the PS and ABS markets in the region with decreases this week in line with lower styrene and butadiene prices.

In Asia, styrene prices on FOB Korea basis are currently down by around $110/ton from early March levels while butadiene prices on FOB China basis posted a more considerable slump of $850/ton in the same period.

A Taiwanese producer cut its prices by $70/ton for ABS and by $100/ton for PS to China when compared to last week, bringing its new offers to $1880/ton for ABS injection, to $1360/ton for GPPS injection and to $1420/ton for HIPS injection, all on CIF China/Hong Kong, cash basis.

Another Taiwanese producer decreased its offers to Southeast Asia and China by $60/ton for ABS injection and by $100/ton for GPPS injection when compared to two weeks ago. Accordingly, the producer’s offers stand at $1950/ton for ABS injection and at $1470/ton for GPPS injection, all on CIF SEA/China/Hong Kong, cash basis.

A source from the producer commented,” We revised our prices down due to retreating monomer prices and weak demand. There are no buyers interested in new purchases as local prices in China are more competitive than imports.”

An Indonesian trader reported receiving offers for Korean GPPS at $1530-1550/ton CIF Indonesia, cash basis. “Korean offers are down by $20-30/ton this week, which is not enough to reflect recent styrene decreases. The gap between styrene and GPPS is still wide and this results in further decreases in PS offers.”