Pakistan PE offers rise on limited supply

SINGAPORE (ICIS)–Spot polyethylene (PE) offers to Pakistan edged up during the week, with suppliers hiking offers for March-lifting cargoes amid limited availability of the material.

Offers for low density PE (LDPE) film grades from a supplier based in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) emerged at $1,340-1,370/tonne CFR (cost and freight) Pakistan, up $40-60/tonne from prices for February shipments, market sources said.

For high density PE (HDPE) film, offers for March shipments firmed to $1,200-1,220/tonne CFR Pakistan, stable-to-firm from February levels.

For linear low density PE (LLDPE), offers emerged at $1,270-1,280/tonne CFR Pakistan, higher by $20-50/tonne from deals undertaken for February-shipping product, market sources said.

Supply to Pakistan is limited ahead of scheduled turnarounds at key facilities in the Middle East.

Importers, however, are slow to respond to the high offers as they prefer to monitor the trend in the key China market. The negotiations are likely to kick in later this week, market sources said.