ANKARA: In Turkey, import ABS prices sustained their bearish trend, which has been in place since mid-May, as more prices have emerged with decreases this week. These reductions have already started to pass on deals, according to traders.
According to ChemOrbis, irregular demand amidst ongoing political uncertainty as well as the weakness in the upstream markets were cited as the main reasons for the prevailing downward trend. Spot styrene, butadiene and ACN markets registered weekly losses in Asia and August styrene contracts settled down €25/ton in Europe earlier this week.
Following the recent adjustments, import ABS prices have hit the lowest levels since early February of this year, according to ChemOrbis Price Index. A Taiwanese ABS producer issued decreases of US$45/ton for August compared to their latest July offers. Regarding duty-free South Korean origin, a producer revealed their new August ABS prices with decreases of US$80/ton for natural and US$130/ton for white grades compared with their most recent July offers.
A trader offering this origin considered demand to be sluggish and believes it will probably be slower in August compared to July. An agent of another South Korean producer reported, “We obtained an additional discount of US$50/ton from our supplier, bringing the total decrease amount to US$100/ton for August. We bought limited volumes of ABS due to weak demand and pressure from competitive prices in the market.”
