SINGAPORE (ICIS)--Asia monoethylene glycol (MEG) prices fell on Thursday morning following news that Taiwan' s Nan Ya Plastics can postpone the shutdown of its No 3 and No 4 MEG plants in Mailiao, market sources said.
The two plants have a combined capacity of 1.18m tonnes/year.
"The market is disordered now as most people are still [processing] the news and don't know whether to sell or buy," a Shanghai-based trader said.
Selling indications as low as $1,200/tonne (?28/tonne) CFR (cost & freight) CMP (China Main Port) were heard on Thursday, down $40-70/tonne from the closing price of $1,240-1,270/tonne CFR CMP on Wednesday, but there were no buyers.
Wednesday's closing price was a sharp increase from Tuesday' s close and an 11% jump over the past three trading sessions, according to ICIS data.
"The [price] upturn in the previous three days was too fast and too speculative, and we didn't [act on it] as it is not sustainable," a Zhejiang-based trader said.
"I prefer to monitor the market for a longer period before taking [action] as prices are too volatile these days," another Zhejiang-based trader said.
Most traders agree that supply will remain tight in June depending on the shutdown dates of Nan Ya’s two plants.
($1 = ?.69)
