Pressure on maritime supply chains after the sudden rebound in demand since the second half of 2020 has caused huge congestion at ports, leading to unprecedented increase in prices and extended delay of scheduled deliveries.

After Asia and Europe, which have recorded a steep hike in freight charges amidst congestion on the sea lines and container shortage, Middle East is the next country announcing severe tightness of supplies in its petrochemical sector.Under the pressure of delivering any backlogs of previous contract purchases, various producers are refraining from booking any spot contracts in the near-term.

In case of chemical commodities, sturdy demand for Polyethylene (PE) in the regional market has also hindered its deliveries to the Middle East especially from its major supplier US.

As most of the sellers have already sold their cargoes for this month and are poised to sanction new contracts for February by the end of January, the prices of Polypropylene (PP) are likely to witness upsurge in the Middle Eastern countries.

Several production turnarounds in Asia have given the room to the regional PET sellers to cater to the domestic demand which has thus reduced the overseas delivery pressure.

China’s Resources Chemicals and Zhejian Wakai New Material PET resin plants with the capacity of 400 KTPA each, have been shut for maintenance since December with no resumption date in sight.