Locally-held PP, PE prices firm up in Vietnam

According to players in Vietnam, locally-held PP and PE prices witnessed increases this week despite the fact that overall demand was still below sellers’ expectations.

A trader based in Vietnam lifted its offers for Saudi Arabian LLDPE film and homo-PP raffia by VND200,000/ton ($9/ton) from last week. “We couldn’t apply any larger increases on our offers as demand is still not that strong,” he said.

Another trader affirmed, “Buyers still tend to show resistance to higher offer levels. However, we believe that the recent increases will prove sustainable in the near term since we expect demand to improve ahead of the holidays in mid-February.”

On the buyers’ side, a packaging converter reported that locally-held offers for Saudi Arabian homo-PP and LLDPE film increased by VND500,000/ton ($22/ton) when compared to last week.

The buyer noted, “Sellers justify their firmer prices by citing their lower stocks. Plus, demand from converters is not bad due to the preparations for Chinese New Year. We already secured enough material to cover our needs until the end of January. However, we are now planning to make some purchases for February.”

A second Vietnamese converter commented, “Locally-held PP and PE prices are tracking a stable to firmer path this week. Traders claim that they have limited availability, particularly for LLDPE. Demand towards our end products is still not great.”

Prices for locally-held PP and PE currently stand at VND29,700,000-30,500,000/ton ($1202-1234/ton without VAT) for homo-PP raffia, at VND32,000,000-33,000,000/ton ($1295-1335/ton without VAT) for LDPE film, at VND29,500,000-30,500,000/ton ($1194-1234/ton without VAT) for LLDPE film and at VND32,500,000-33,500,000/ton ($1315-1356/ton without VAT) for HDPE film, all on FD Vietnam, cash equivalent inc VAT basis.

According to data from ChemOrbis Price Index, the weekly average of local HDPE film prices in Vietnam is currently standing at its highest level since August 2015.