Polymer inventories in China hover above 1m t

Polymer inventories in China hovered above 1m t this week as resin demand in the country continued to weaken.

Polymer inventories at key state-controlled producers Sinopec and PetroChina rose to 1.135mn t on April 2 from 1.125mn t a week earlier. Inventories remained high compared with typical levels of around 700,000t.

China has been gradually returning to normal work patterns since last week after months disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, but poor demand capped buying from large- and medium-sized convertors.

China's plastics export value dropped by 16pc year on year for January-February, to $8.2 trillion.

Chinese polymer prices continued to fall this week, pressured by the pandemic's effects and by lower monomer prices and weak upstream crude prices. Argus assessed linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) film prices in China today at $640-680/t cfr, down by $30-50/t from the previous week, and polypropylene (PP) raffia prices in China at $650-700/t cfr, lower by $90-100/t than last week.

Story by Muhamad Fadhil and China staff