Turkish petrochemicals group Petkim has reduced its list prices for polyethylene, polypropylene and polyvinyl chloride by $25-35/mt this week on the back of falling demand and feedstock cost, market sources said Thursday.
Prices for low density PE were lowered by $25-35/mt to $1,690-1,710/mt FCA Aliaga, and for high density PE by $25/mt to $1,650-1,710/mt.
For polypropylene, prices were reduced by $35/mt to $1,615-1,625/mt and for PVC, they were cut by $30/mt to $1,110-1,140/mt.
Petkim's move was widely expected by the market, sources said, particularly following the Eur15-20/mt ($19.50-26/mt) drop in November contract prices for ethylene and propylene in Europe early this week.
"Turkey is in bad shape, reflecting what's happening in Europe. There's not much buying activity going on. Stocks are increasing," a trader said.
Cautious sentiment persisted, while overall trading activity was scant this week as industry players just returned from the Eid holidays, traders said.
On Tuesday, the November contract prices for ethylene and propylene in Europe were settled at Eur1,275/mt and Eur1,120/mt FD NWE, down Eur15/mt and Eur20/mt from October, respectively.
The reduction was broadly in line with the modest movement in feedstock naphtha prices, sources said.
Naphtha so far averaged at Eur736/mt ($955/mt) CIF NWE in October, down from September's Eur751/mt, Platts data showed. It closed at $943.25/mt on Wednesday, up from $939.75/mt Tuesday and from $925.50/mt a week earlier.
November demand outlook remained bearish, sources said, with many producers and consumers in the downstream markets preparing to scale down output and bring down inventories to the minimum levels.
