Chinese PET fails to catch buyers’ attention in Italy

In Italy, many players were expecting to hear import prices from China following the end of antidumping duty measures on this origin by the end of Q1. This week, some players in Italy received some offers but the initial levels for this origin failed to grab buyers’ interest as they were not found competitive enough.

In Italy, the local PET range was last reported at €980-1030/ton FD, 60 days whereas Chinese PET offers emerged at €970-980/ton DDP.

Initial PET offers from China are almost in line with European prices, being found unattractive for the time being. A distributor reported, “We heard an offer from China at €980-990/ton DDP, which failed to grab interest among buyers as they are at the same levels with European offers being available below €1000/ton threshold.”

PET prices in Asia have been on a weakening trend for more than three months while the downturn started in late March in Europe. Players are currently observing developments in crude oil and feedstock markets to have a clearer idea regarding the June outlook as the recent rebound in the energy complex may affect the feedstock markets.