China’s import ABS market sees first hike attempts since early Aug

In China, import ABS prices witnessed some slight increases for the first time since early August in line with a few sellers’ hike attempts based on the improved sentiment.

Crude oil futures rebounded at the start of the week amid a temporary trade truce between the US and China as well as OPEC’s expected output cuts. This has boosted the sentiment in the ABS market to some extent and encouraged sellers to chase some price hikes.

The overall range for import ABS injection prices was quoted at $1400-1520/ton on CIF China, cash basis. The range indicated modest gains of $5/ton on the low end and $20/ton on the high end when compared to last week.



“Higher upstream costs along with the trade truce with the US have supported the sentiment and several traders have returned to the market to make some purchases this week. A few sellers applied modest hikes on their offers while others were reluctant to give any discounts,” a trader opined.

A Southeast Asian producer concluded a few ABS deals with its customers in China at $1450-1500/ton CIF, cash. “Trading activities have cautiously picked up as the sentiment improved amid higher costs. We are not willing to give discounts on our offers anymore,” a producer source noted.

Spot styrene prices in Asia posted some gains after several weeks of visible declines while spot ACN stabilized following the massive decline in prices over the last seven weeks. Spot butadiene prices, meanwhile, were slightly higher for the third week in a row.

A source from a South Korean producer commented, “Higher styrene prices have boosted the sentiment to some degree. However, end product manufacturers are still cautious about making large scale purchases as uncertainty remains over the future direction of prices.”