MOSCOW (MRC) -- After an April surge of imports, foreign supply of bottled PET to Russia dropped by 25% and totaled to 14,000 tonnes, report the analysts of MRC.
A weak demand from the bottlers due to a cool spring, and an outlook regarding future fall in PET prices in Asia have led to the reduction of purchases by the domestic traders. Anticipating the future price cut, converters preferred purchasing goods in small lots.
In May the bulk of PET supply were shipped from Korea. The total amount of PET granulate imported from South Korea made 7,160 tonnes, 1,200 tonnes down from April.
The purchases of Chinese granulate have reduced dramatically.
In May Russian traders shipped about 5,600 tonnes of the Chinese polymer, 36% down from April. It’s worth mentioning that the sales of PET of foreign producers have decreased almost twice (by 17,000 tonnes) in Russia year on year.
In 2012 imports of PET has been declining in the domestic consumption. The total imports of the material made 162,000 tonnes over the first five months last year, however, Russian traders purchased only 70,000 tonnes of PET year-on-year. This indicates strengthening of the positions of the local PET producers and an increase of competition among import suppliers.
MRC