PET prices hold steady ahead of holidays
In Southeast Asia, PET prices were largely unchanged as activity slowed in the last few working days before the Chinese New Year holidays. Import prices inched up $5/ton on the low end of the range to be quoted at $780-830/ton CIF SEA, cash equivalent basis. An Indonesian converter in the packaging sector reported receiving an offer for Chinese PET at $780/ton CIF and an offer for domestic material at $820/ton FD, cash. “Beverage demand is slowing down ahead of the low season and the first three months of the year are usually a bit slow based on our past experience,” the buyer commented. A trader offering Chinese PET at $780-800/ton CIF stated, “We kept our prices unchanged as there was scarcely any buying activity in the last week before the holidays as we had expected.” Prices inside the region’s local markets were also mostly unchanged in the final week before the holidays. An Indonesian converter said that they received a higher offer for domestic material at $840/ton FD, cash while adding that they managed to conclude a deal at $820/ton. A Vietnamese converter commented, “Local prices came down a bit this week as the dollar softened a bit. Prices traditionally decline before the holidays before staging a post-holiday rally, but we are not sure that this pattern will be repeated this year.”