Southeast Asia’s PET market hits almost 3-month high

Data from ChemOrbis Price Index suggest that import PET prices in Southeast Asia have recently hit their highest levels since the start of October in line with a new round of modest hikes. The firming trend, which has mostly been in place since mid-October, is maintained by high upstream and energy costs, healthy export demand as well as the ongoing bullish run in China’s export PET market.



A few traders and converters in Indonesia reported that they purchased some Chinese PET bottle last week with increases of around $30/ton from a week earlier, saying, “Despite the recent hikes, we continue to buy from China since our local market is not competitive at all.”

In Vietnam, a trader also received $20-25/ton higher offers for Chinese and Indonesian PET. “Chinese exporters applied further hikes on their offers due to higher upstream costs as well as their limited supplies. Sellers are feeling free from any sales pressure amidst healthy demand,” he commented.

A Shanghai-based trader commented, “Our offers are firmer due to high MEG and PTA prices in Asia. Demand remains good, particularly from South America. We think that the support from high costs has already overshadowed other factors including new capacities.”

Meanwhile, a few regional traders noted that demand towards Thai PET has improved recently since the US Department of Commerce announced the preliminary decision regarding the antidumping duty investigations on PET imports from China, India, Korea, and Taiwan.