In Egypt, the local PP producer EPPC has been absent from the market for over two months now as per the pricing service of ChemOrbis. The producer, who usually makes monthly price announcements, stopped offering to the market at the end of March, pointing to the higher EGP/USD parity issues and lack of dollar reserves inside the country, which led many Egyptian players to turn to the black market to meet their dollar needs at much higher rates than the officially announced ones by the country’s banks, as their motives behind their decision.
Previously a source from the producer had cited that it would have been difficult to judge a fair price amidst the ongoing financial problems in the country in order to justify their withdrawal from the market. When June was nearing, some players were claiming that the producer was to return to the market although this information was not confirmed by the producer. Yet, in June, the expectancies about EPPC’s return did not materialize. A converter commented, “Most players were preparing to cut their import purchases in order to see EPPC’s new prices but it seems like June will be the third month that EPPC will not offer to the market.”
Players report limited local availability while import Middle Eastern PP raffia prices were initially announced with rollovers to up to $30/ton increases from May. Regional producers were said to hold limited quantities while some of them were already reported to be sold out of their restricted quantities.
Meanwhile, the nearby market of Turkey has also lacked Egyptian raffia offers since the end of April although some Egyptian fibre offers have recently started to be reported in that market.
Looking at Egypt’s local market, prices are EGP300-600/ton ($43-86/ton) higher when compared to the beginning of June while they are EGP900/ton ($129/ton) above the levels reported two months ago, when EPPC’s offers were last reported according to ChemOrbis.
