- Selling and buying ideas that are far from- Downstream margins remain weak



The Asian ethylene market prices were
volatile ahead of Christmas, with the ethylene CFR Southeast Asia marker
falling $10/mt on the day to $910/mt Dec. 22. Many industry participants
pointed out that the market fundamentals remain largely unchanged and
discussions are still thin. One market
source stated that they didn't buy or sell cargoes last week. "Things are
very quiet," he said. Trade sources
stated that substantial price differences between selling and buying ideas had
limited opportunistic purchasing. Trade
sources said that while buyers met their January purchasing quotas, sellers
didn't feel any inventory pressure because of low upstream run rates. One trader stated that suppliers aren't willing go lower so
there is a deadlock. According to some
sources, the downstream margins for...