Crude oil prices in the week mellowed on fears of US recession. US light sweet fell by US$4.40 a barrel with Europe IPE brent fell by US$3 to US$87.59. OPEC basket fell US$6 to US$84.62 a barrel. However a weak dollar will keep Crude oil on its toes with further expectations of dollar weakening.

Naphtha price is on the rise leading to it being substituted with LPG. Naphtha in Japan rose over US$850 a ton. However, in Rotterdam, Mediterranean and Singapore further fell for the 3rd week. PTT Chemicals, Thailand’s largest olefins maker said on Friday, it planned to shut down its 14-1 olefins plant for maintenance for 13 days from Jan 31-Feb 12. PTT Chemicals, among others, produces ethylene and propylene which is the feedstock for synthetic fibers.

1.4D/38 mm SD increased by a cent in most markets in China. In China it was at US$1.65 for delivered terms. In Taiwan and Pakistan it was steady where as in India it decreased by a cent. PFY prices in Malaysia and Indonesia remained constant, slightly declining in India by a cent. POY 114/108 in India was quoted at US$1.96 a kg. In China, PFY specs inched up by a cent. POY in China was in the range of US$1.80-US$1.82 a kg.

PTA in the week remained steady. Offers in Korea were quoted at US$865 a ton while in China Mainstream offer was at US$860 a ton. Purified terephthalic acid (PTA) producer Hualian Sunshine Petrochemical has proposed its February price for the Chinese domestic market as yuan (CNY) 7,900/tonne ($1094/tonne) delivered, up CNY300/tonne ($41.6/tonne) from the January final price. Meanwhile, MEG continued its fall in Asia. Front month offer in Korea and Taiwan fell US$110 to US$1,140 a ton. While nomination prices in the week remained unchanged. Sinopec has finalized its price for mono ethylene glycol (MEG) delivered in the Chinese domestic market in January as yuan (CNY) 11,900/tonne ($1648/tonne).

NFY inched up further in India by 2 cents, remaining steady in Korea. In China, which is the largest producer of NFY, prices increased by 2 cents for most specs for both DTY and FDY. Polypropylene prices in China inched by a cent where as in Turkey prices remained steady. The Turkish Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade, through Communiqué 2008/2, initiated an anti-dumping investigation on synthetic and artificial staple fibres originating from China, India and Indonesia.

ASF price in China in the week was steady whereas in India it decreased by a cent. 1.5D/38 mm in China was quoted at US$2.52 whereas the same spec in India was at US$2.76 a kg. 3D tow Mitsubishi Rayon contract nomination was unchanged. Acrylonitrile prices in North China further increased by US$10 to US$2,081 a ton while in US Gulf and Europe was steady.

VFY prices in the week decreased by 2 cents for most specs with an exception of 75D bright and dull which increased 4 cents. VFY prices in India decreased 2 cents in dollar terms. VFY prices in India were hiked at the beginning of the year. VSF prices in India were stable in the week which is periodically fixed. 1.2D bright was at US$2.87 a kg while 1.2D dull was at US$3.04 a kg. VSF in China decreased 3 cent to US$2.98 a kg.

Cotlook A index fell by 8 cents after rising last week and New York cotton futures also fell by the same magnitude. China cotton index was steady at US$1.89 while in India cotton prices remained mixed and the standard grade Shankar 6 price remained constant.

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