Asia buyers likely to resist drastic hikes in PET spot prices

10 January 2011 08:19  [Source: ICIS news]

DUBAI (ICIS)--Asian polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle-grade chip producers may face difficulties in significantly increasing prices as downstream players will resist such moves despite a stable growth in demand for bottles, a key UAE-based beverage producer said late on Sunday.

Asian PET spot prices have jumped by $110-120/tonne (€85-92/tonne) over the past four weeks to settle at $1,550-1,580/tonne FOB (free on board) Korea last Friday, mainly on firming feedstock costs, ICIS data showed.

The beverage producer was speaking on the sidelines of the four-day 10th Arab International Plastics and Rubber Industry Trade Show and Conference in Dubai, which ends on 11 January.

“With more PET bottle chip capacity expansion projects lining up in the next couple of years, supply is going to outstrip demand [in the Gulf Cooperation Council region] and competition [among PET producers] will intensify,” the producer added.

Discussions in the spot market right now were of some speculative nature given the current low inventory levels among buyers and end-users, the beverage producer added.

PET bottle chips are mainly used in the bottled-water market, while some are applied in bottles for soft drinks, cooking oil and beer.

($1 = €0.77)

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By: Yu Guo
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