Volatile crude oil keeps PET buyers sidelined
In China, trading activities were quite limited in the first week of the year as buyers mostly remained on the sidelines in the face of volatile crude oil costs as well as the suspension of trading on the Chinese stock market on both Monday and Thursday. Although some PET sellers opened the year with increase attempts, this upward movement proved unsustainable after the oil markets saw renewed declines towards the end of the week. Export PET prices were reported at $800-830/ton on an FOB China, cash equivalent basis. The range indicates a $20/ton increase on the low end while it is down by $30/ton on the high end when compared to the previous week. A trader active in Shanghai commented, “The market was quiet over the past week due to the ongoing holiday lethargy. We heard that a producer issued a $15/ton increase on their export offers. However, we believe that higher offers will not work as demand remains subdued given the recent crude oil drops.” Export PET prices from South Korea were mostly unchanged from a week earlier to be quoted at $840-850/ton FOB, cash. Meanwhile, inside China, local PET prices started the new year on a mostly stable note, with many players remaining on the sidelines due to the country’s struggling economy and the uncertain outlook in energy markets.