European PTA export target moves eastward

Author: Pang Xiao Source: China Chemical Industry News November 11, 2019

Sinochem Xinwang recently, Platts Energy released a report saying that due to the weak market demand in Europe, European PTA producers are actively seeking to transfer to the Asian market, mainly focusing on India and China. Export opportunities.

According to Chinese customs data, in September, Europe exported 22,992 tons of PTA to China, and the exporting countries were Belgium and Portugal. Generally, European PTA exports to China were zero or negligible. Similarly, Indian customs data shows that India imported 9001 tons of PTA from Belgium in July, which is an uncommon source of PTA imports in India, and 11987 tons in August.

BP is the only PTA producer in Belgium with a total production capacity of 1.4 million tons per year, while Portugal has only one PTA unit of 700,000 tons per year, which is owned by Indolamar.

Platts said that with the coming of low season, the European PTA market was hit by the weak downstream PET market. In the colder months, when the demand for plastic beverage bottles decreases, it usually leads to a decrease in demand for PET and a drop in prices in Europe. This year, this effect was exacerbated by insufficient summer demand, with a severe oversupply in the European market during the winter months. At the end of October, the spot price of PET in the European market was 890 euros/ton (FD, Northwest Europe), which was a significant decrease of 460 euros/ton compared with the same period last year.

Although European PTA producers are actively seeking opportunities to export to the Asian market, some trade participants have expressed doubts about the sustainability of European PTA exports to the Asian market due to packaging and logistics challenges and the market’s generally bearish Asian PTA market. This is because new factories are about to be put into production in the Asian region. At the same time, the traditional low season is coming, and the demand for PTA in Asia is also decreasing.