Buying sentiment in the Turkish polymers markets has been hit be a new drop in the value of the lira against the dollar, market sources said on Wednesday.
Although demand in some markets, such as the Turkish low density polyethylene market, has been weak throughout the opening months of 2017, others such as HDPE and PP, which were widely considered to be the best-performing polymers in the Turkish market, have also seen buying appetite negatively impacted by the drop in value of the lira.
On Tuesday, the dollar reached Lira 3.8667, its highest level against the Turkish currency since peaking at Lira 3.8832 on December 14.
"The Turkish lira is devaluating and there are day to day problems. Everyone is hesitating to buy because the market is clearly in a downwards direction and people are holding off from bids, even for PP and other strong items, these have softened," a Turkish trader said Wednesday.
In recent weeks, supply constraints in the Turkish PP and HDPE markets, which sources attributed to planned turnarounds in the Middle East, have supported rising prices, buoyed by healthy levels of demand from the Turkish market.
On March 7, CFR Turkey PP raffia prices were assessed up $10/mt to $1,340/mt, while HDPE film prices were assessed up $30/mt to $1,320/mt CFR Turkey.
