POLYMERS - GPPS

Downcast demand from the Chinese buyers has rendered a stagnancy in the polystyrene markets in Asia. Prices stagnated at US$1465/MT in the week of October 22, 2007, as the buyers did not step out of the sidelines and preferred to wait and watch. Buying intentions were pegged atleast twenty dollars lower than offers from producers in Korea and Taiwan. Rising upstream benzene and SM prices have rendered a price drop unfeasible for polystyrene manufacturers.