Oil Price Swings Fail to Weaken Sellers' Confidence in Turkey's Polymer Market

Sharp fluctuations in global crude oil prices had little impact on Turkey's polymer markets this week, as sellers continued to maintain a firm pricing stance. Although Brent crude dropped sharply after the US and Iran paused hostilities, improving demand, limited prompt availability, and expectations of stronger August prices kept market sentiment positive.

The recent rise in feedstock costs had already encouraged buyers to return to the market after months of weak purchasing activity. Even after crude prices corrected, sellers remained confident, believing tighter supply conditions would continue to support polymer prices.

Import PP Market Remains Firm

Imported polypropylene (PP) offers stayed limited during the week as Russian and Saudi suppliers had already cleared much of their available inventory through strong sales in recent weeks.

Market participants reported increasing enquiries for PP copolymers, while lower-priced offers from previous weeks have largely disappeared. Supply remains tight, and traders expect fresh price increases for both homo PP and PP copolymers in the coming week.

Target prices for homo PP raffia moved above $1,150/ton CIF Turkey, while homo PP fibre exceeded $1,200/ton CIF Turkey for cargoes subject to the 6.5% import duty.

PE Market Supported by Tight Supply

The polyethylene (PE) market also remained resilient despite the sharp decline in crude oil.

Domestic producer Petkim increased LDPE and HDPE prices by $50/ton, taking its cumulative LDPE hike to $100/ton within a few days. Strong sales in recent weeks have allowed the producer to focus mainly on deliveries.

Additional support came from firmer European LDPE prices and reduced availability of US, Russian, and Uzbek cargoes. Market participants expect August PE offers to be announced at higher levels as supply remains constrained.

PVC Prices Continue to Move Higher

The PVC market also extended its upward trend, led by higher-priced offers from US suppliers.

After selling below $700/ton CIF Turkey at the end of June, US-origin K67 PVC first climbed to around $750/ton before testing the $800/ton CIF level this week.

The price increase has also been supported by fewer offers from Egypt and South Korea. However, unlike the polyolefin market, PVC demand slowed this week as buyers became more cautious and resisted the latest higher offer levels.

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