Shrinking Polycarbonate Values in India Due to Underwhelming Feedstock Prices

The polycarbonate market is facing a weak to stable trend among the Indian consumers due to lower usage of Polycarbonate in the commercial sectors like medical devices and the vast growing automotive enterprises. With prices hovering around INR 245000/ton-INR 253000/ton Polycarbonate IM Grade Ex-Ahmedabad as per Chem Analyst pricing on June 8.

Fluctuations in the price of Polycarbonate from the exporting Asian countries like Thailand, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, and China are creating confusion amongst the traders in fixing prices for the product. The Russian war has drastically impacted global Crude Petroleum prices, indirectly affecting the prices of its downstream derivatives.

As of June 7, a steady market trend of Polycarbonate has been reported in the open markets of Mumbai. This has led to increasing inventories and stockpiling of the product in the marketplace owing to the falling feedstock prices. Hence the stockholders were forced to decrease their prices. Despite the upstream crude price rise, the feedstock Acetone prices are dropping thanks to the reduced demand from the downstream market. Surplus, the weak buying sentiments resulted due to the stockpiling of the product, thanks to which the price had to be cut off by the suppliers.

Additionally, the downstream polycarbonate market is witnessing a fall as the consumption from the terminal end plummeted, leading to ample availability. Thus, the explanations mentioned above have been affecting the Bisphenol A pricing, and therefore the prices were hovering at INR 185186/ tonne Ex Chennai with a week over week declination of 3.4% within the week ending June 3.

Due to China's lockdown restrictions, South Korea, the largest exporter of Bisphenol A in the region, has seen slow trade momentum. Thus, the copious availability of the product ushered in a decrease in Polycarbonate production.

As per Chem Analyst, the prices of Polycarbonate are expected to fluctuate downwards and, to some extent, follow a stable trend in the Indian market. And slowing demand pattern from the downstream sector due to disrupted market activities, the buying sentiments are expected to remain bearish.