The Egyptian polymer market appears to be returning to some level of normalcy following the political turmoil which caused most of the regional Middle Eastern producers to step back, as per Chemorbis. Though Middle Eastern import offers remain scarce, producers could return with March prices, but players have reported other origins returning to make offers.
In the PP market a trader reported that he has started offering Taiwanese PPRC pipe grade to Egypt this week. Asian origin PP corresponds with other appearances of Asian PP in the Mediteranean this month with South Korean PPRC offered into Turkey last week and South Korean homo-PP offered the week before to Italy. This is presumably due to the slow conditions in China until now and the relatively more attractive price level in the Mediterranean.
One trader continues to offer Middle Eastern homo-PP to Egypt, but the producer began asking for cash payment after the political crisis instead of the traditional 90 days deferred payments which has put buyers off from purchasing. The local PP market remains unstable even this week, with prices in the distribution market fluctuating. Players are a bit confused by the domestic producer’s US$200/ton gap compared to the Middle Eastern offer available in the import market. The gap was created after OPC made a very large price increase at the start of the month. Distributors are left in the middle of the gap and are uncertain which way OPC will go for next month.
The PVC market received some US offers this week after an absence last week when the government called for bank holidays in the middle of the week. US PVC prices made a noticeable upward advance of around US$100/ton compared to the start of the month. A trader offering material from three US producers claimed that he saw good demand and concluded deals with buyers who are worried about firming prices. He said the buyers were concerned because of the rising crude oil prices which are being seen on the eve of PVC’s high season.
The PE market remains relatively quiet on the import front while Asian PS offers have been reported over the past week. A converter commented earlier this week, “Import offers started to re-emerge in the market while supply in the local market has started to improve, but I will continue to search for other offers before purchasing.”
