Asian PS sellers struggle to balance firm costs, slow demand

PS sellers in Southeast Asia and China report that they are facing a difficult time concluding deals at prices sufficient to cover their increasing operating costs as demand for the product remains unimpressive.  A Taiwanese producer stated that they left their offers for GPPS unchanged this week while reducing their HIPS by $30/ton owing to stiff resistance from the buyers' side, with these adjustments bringing the producer's prices to $1170/ton CFR China for GPPS and $1240/ton with the same terms for HIPS.

 Meanwhile, a Hong Kong producer stated that they have elected to follow a mostly stable pricing trend this week due to volatility in upstream markets and uncertainty over the medium-term market outlook, with the producer's prices currently standing at $1190/ton for GPPS and at $1270/ton for HIPS, both on an FCA Hong Kong, cash basis.

In Malaysia, a distributor complained that their sales remain sluggish this week owing to relatively weak demand, with the distributor adding that they are expecting stable GPPS prices in spite of the difficulties they are facing in making sales.  The distributor received an offer from their supplier in Singapore this week at $1160/ton ex-warehouse Singapore, 30 days deferred payment, unchanged from last week, while they reduced their offers for Taiwanese HIPS by $50/ton on the week to bring their new prices to $1280/ton CIF Malaysia, cash.