China domestic BPA finds stability after crash

07 November 2008 11:00  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Some stability seems to have taken hold in the Chinese domestic bisphenol A (BPA) market this week, following sharp decreases over the past month, market players said on Friday.

“Many Chinese traders had dumped their cargoes in order to get quick cash to prevent bankruptcy,” one Shanghai-based trader pointed out.

While the downtrend continued this week, prices towards Friday were reported at CNY8,100-8,200/tonne EXWH (ex-warehouse), a mere dip of CNY100/tonne week on week.

Chinese domestic prices shed over yuan (CNY) 6,400-6,600/tonne ($938-968/tonne) in October alone, as traders saddled with excess BPA cargoes encashed their inventories in a bid to obtain liquidity amid the global economic downturn.

One northeast Asian trader pointed out that the cuts in Chinese banks’ interest rates had led to a recovery of buyers’ purchasing power.

“The bank interest rates have been reduced to 6.6%, and some traders are speculating that prices have bottomed out already,” said the trader in Mandarin.

Traders were unlikely to drop prices further just to get cash, he said.

Optimism over a potential increase in exports to the US following the recent presidential election also boosted buying sentiment, with several sellers reporting a higher number of enquiries this week.

Chinese BPA manufacturers include Bayer, Kingboard and Blue Star New Chemicals.

($1 = CNY6.82)

Jenny Yi from CBI contributed to the article.

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By: Jeremiah Chan
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