Abstract:

　　In Asia, PET prices have moved south over the past week as sellers both in the export　market as well as the Chinese domestic market elected to cut their prices due to weakening　demand as the traditionally high season has started to fade away. Looking at the export　market, South Korean PET offers recorded decreases over the past week, retreating by $10-20/ton on FOB Busan, cash basis. Despite buyers’ claims that lower prices are available in　other global markets, most Korean producers tried to maintain their offer levels,　highlighting that they are not feeling much stock pressure. However, producers’ firm　stance on their prices was not sufficient to maintain a steady pricing trend given limited　buying interest. Chinese producers’ export PET offers showed similar decreases of $10-　20/ton on FOB China basis last week. Producers stepped back on their offers as their prices　in order to brining their offers closer into line with the prevailing buy ideas, although　most buyers are still looking for prices $20-50/ton below the current export offers.

　　Despite the wide gap between buy and sell ideas, most producers are standing their ground　at their current levels, saying that they are unwilling to offer further price decreases as　main feedstocks MEG and PTA held relatively firm on the week.