High-Density Polyethylene:Asia

摘要

Asian high density polyethylene prices managed a feeble increase in the week even as production margins sank deep into the red, with ethylene prices surging $50/mt to $1,351/mt CFR NEA Wednesday. Asian producers, particularly those in South Korea, were mulling run cuts at their PE plants to sell spot ethylene instead, which is far more profitable at the moment, given that the spread between naphtha prices and ethylene is a more-than- ample $621/mt. Negative margins were attributed mainly to the inability of end-users to pass on costs to their customers, hence higher resistance to any further price hike.