Russian offers undercut Vietnam’s import PE prices

Russian offers of HDPE and LLDPE have piled the pressure on import prices in Vietnam, as sellers from elsewhere too are pricing aggressively to compete, market players said.Supplies of Chinese re-export shipments also loomed large.

“We already have some Russian material in storage. But the problem lately has been liquidity, as bids have been few. We have received Russian offers at around $1300/ton for HDPE and $1340/ton for LLDPE. We think prices could go down further,” a trader said.

Russian offers put strong pressure on the market as HDPE blow-moulding offers from South Korea and the US were also reported in Vietnam at or close to the low end of the overall ranges. Some deals were heard for South Korean and Russian HDPE film and blow moulding at $1280/ton CIF Vietnam, standing $90/ton below the low end of the Middle East range, but were not included in the weekly assessments.



ChemOrbis PriceWizard shows the midpoint of Vietnamese import HDPE prices assessed at $1215/ton CIF on January 3, rose to a peak of $1410/ton CIF in mid-March, before falling gradually to the current $1350/ton CIF. The presence of the Russian shipments was reflected in a $40/ton fall last week.

Traders also point to the weak demand for domestic material. “Every player is looking for prices to fall further,” said a converter.

PE supplies are also thought to be adequate from other Northeast Asian and Mideast origin countries too, traders said. But these materials have to compete with “aggressive” offers from Russia, apart from China. Offers from South Korea have also slumped in the past few weeks.

“There are plentiful re-export supplies from China, with prices likely at very low levels.But players are still not too keen to replenish stocks and sellers must offer extra discounts to close deals. So we haven’t seen the bottom of this market yet,” said a trader in Vietnam.

But another trader pointed to the lockdowns and other strong restrictions in place in China to control COVID. “If there’s a quick turnaround in the COVID situation, we may see demand picking up in China, ending Chinese re-export availability,” he said.