Polymer players: Demand remains slow in India

Players operating in India’s polymer markets complain about the ongoing stagnancy of demand in the face of the uncertainties stemming from the GST implementation, which became effective as of July 1. Apart from that, the ongoing monsoon season also continues to weigh down on the market sentiment.

A Delhi-based PVC trader stated that trading activities remained slow after the implementation of GST. “Although there are some buyers who started to make some small purchases, the overall buying interest is low given the GST implementation along with the monsoon season,” he added.

A Taiwanese PVC producer source also pointed out that demand from India is still weak while other regions are doing well.

As for PP, a source from a Taiwanese producer said, “We heard from our customers that Indian buyers are not purchasing much due to the uncertain market conditions based on the recent implementation of GST.”

A Chinese PE trader remarked that Indian PE prices in China are very low and attributed this to slow demand in India stemming from the new taxation system.” Indian producers are exporting materials at competitive levels in order to clear their inventories,” he said.

Although there were earlier expectations about seeing an improvement in demand in August, it is not giving any signals of it for the rest of July.