South Africa's Sasol rolls over February LDPE offers – sources

23 January 2013 16:08  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS)--South Africa's Sasol has rolled over its February low density polyethylene (LDPE) offers for domestic business, industry sources said on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a rise in value for LDPE imports, as a result of tight Middle East supply, is expected to continue into next month, sources added.

Sasol's February LDPE offers are at South African rand (R)12,950/tonne (€1,097/tonne, $1,462/tonne). The price is unconfirmed by Sasol, but widely confirmed by other market players in South Africa.

In the import market, LDPE is being sold to distributors in South Africa at $1,460-1,480/tonne CFR this week. 

But LDPE import offers from a major Middle East producer are set to rise by $50/tonne in February, distributors in the country said.

Sasol's offers are on a free delivered (FD) basis, while importers have to factor in additional shipping clearance, storage and delivery costs, as well as possible fluctuations in rand-US dollar rates.

A South Africa-based importing distributor said on imports: "I think I simply won't order. It's not affordable."

A second importing distributor said: "This is going to be a year where it is going to be quite tough on [distributor] margin as a result of Sasol aggression."

(€1 = R11.8, $1 = R8.86)

By: Cuckoo James
+44 (0) 208 652 3214

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