Polyester Market Summary (Dec 1-15, 2010)

PTA market kept fluctuating with prices slightly up, pushing by buying activities of traders in the first half of December. Polyester producers were inactive due to low sales ratio. PTA market trend was largely affected by macroeconomic factors. The market will keep consolidating in the short term.

MEG market slightly rebounded in early December. The domestic and import market trends was divergent. The import market was relatively firm and the enquiry for deep sea cargoes was especially active, while the domestic market kept on declining as the traders showed little interest in building stock and polyester plants only took in goods at lower prices.

PET fiber chip market kept weak in the first half of Dec. Trading level dipped by 250yuan/mt. Looking-on sentiment was thick and trading sentiment was dull.

PFY market basically kept a downtrend during the reporting period. Downstream market adopted a hand-to-mouth policy with lower operating rates. After the previous sharp decreases, PFY prices mainly returned reasonable and tended stable. PFY sales were relatively sluggish but sales ratio gained small jumps when downstream plants purchased for cover. Lack of upward momentum and downstream support, PFY market may keep weak in the short term.

In H1 Dec, direct-spun PSF market slightly moved down after short-time stable, with modest sales. Total price dropped by 900yuan/mt. Overall PSF inventory is still low and its demand may soften.

PET bottle chip market was stable in the past half month. Due to production reduction or shutdown of some plants, the market were largely balanced and trading prices moved up a little. Transactions also improved somewhat.