Asia styrenics slow ahead of Chinese New Year
08 February 2007 06:01 [Source: ICIS news]
SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Trades of Asian styrenic plastics like polystyrene (PS), expandable PS (EPS) and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) have tapered off ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays in the second half of February, traders said on Thursday.
Some pre-buying activities were seen last week as moulders replenished stocks to tide them over the holiday lull. By this week, most end-users had already obtained sufficient inventories, traders in Hong Kong said.
Others had placed orders for material to arrive in early March, when the Chinese market reopens, they added.
However, a last spurt of buying is expected next week, as previous years had seen last minute buying just before the Chinese New Year.
Moulders in China said they expect orders for finished goods to increase in March and April, but added that any significant improvement in demand would only take place from late May onwards when the traditional manufacturing season for exports kicks in.
The manufacturing season in China typically straddles the months of May to September.
Spot prices of styrenics plastics were little changed this week, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.
Spot general purpose PS (GPPS) values were around $1,370-1,390/tonne CFR (cost and freight) Hong Kong and high impact PS (HIPS) at $1,410-1,430/tonne CFR Hong Kong. Spot ABS numbers were around $1,580-1,630/tonne CFR China and EPS (packaging grade) at $1,420-1,450/tonne CFR China.
By: Clive Ong
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