US polyethylene exports were not seeing immediate fallout Monday morning from the failed coup attempt in Turkey, but exporters cautioned that it didn't mean the market may not feel some impact in the coming weeks.
Export polyethylene pricing was talked mostly on par with levels seen late last week, with continued tightness in some markets -- particularly films -- having a greater impact on US export prices than world events, sources said.
A US-based trader source said the market in Turkey has been slow the past couple of weeks due to Ramadan as the market was awaiting new pricing indications from the Middle East. But there had been some uptick in orders from customers over the past week, the source said. So far, the source said, there did not appear to be any significant obstacles that would prevent business from being concluded.
"We haven't taken any new orders today, but we also haven't received anything indicating the orders from last week were going to be canceled," the trader said.
Another US-based trader source noted that recent tightness for US polyethylene has slowed exports in general over the past month, so any decrease in demand from Turkey might not be felt immediately like it would if export activity was stronger.
Exporters said there could still be fallout that impacts polymer sales into Turkey in the coming days or weeks, but at this point it was too early to tell.
Turkey has become an increasingly important export destination for US polyethylene in recent years, with 2016 exports already surpassing exports in both 2015 and 2014, according to US International Trade Commission data.
Through May, the US had sent more than 28,674 mt of polyethylene to Turkey, making it the 12th largest importer of US polyethylene on the year. In 2015, the US sent more than 26,637 mt to Turkey, according to USITC data.
US export polyethylene prices were assessed Friday at $1,091/mt FAS Houston for high density blowmolding, at $1,202/mt FAS Houston for linear low density butene and at $1,268/mt FAS Houston for low density general purpose. Market sources said pricing Monday morning appeared to be in line with those levels.
