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Morning Briefing - 19 Mar. 2026Direct military strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure have sent crude oil surging past $110 a barrel, triggering a severe regional supply squeeze that is driving Asian petrochemical prices to multi-year highs and stalling downstream manufacturing demand. |
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CommoPlast
Morning Briefing
19 March 2026
Brent: $107.38 (+ $3.96)
WTI: $96.32 (+ $0.11)
Naphtha CFR Japan: + $7
Ethylene CFR NEA: + $30
Ethylene CFR SEA: + $30
Propylene FOB Korea: Stable
Propylene CFR China: Stable
*Data represent closing prices of the previous trading day
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Vietnam LLDPE climbs to cycle highs as China leads supply-driven rally
Asia’s PE market is pushing higher into a structural supply squeeze, but demand is failing to validate the rally. Chinese exporters have taken pricing leadership in Vietnam, lifting LLDPE film offers to multi-year highs as Middle Eastern cargoes remain absent and feedstock disruptions tied to the Iran conflict curbing operating rates of domestic plants. The result is a tightening regional balance, reinforced by upstream strength on China’s futures markets, with sellers increasingly confident in defending elevated levels.
Read the full story:
Chinese LLDPE film tests $1500/ton in Vietnam; buyers hold back on restocking
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Brent tops $110 as direct strikes on Iran push market into crisis mode
Oil markets are tipping deeper into crisis territory as geopolitical escalation collides with physical supply disruption. Brent surged past $110 on Wednesday after coordinated US-Israeli strikes on Iran’s upstream infrastructure, marking a sharp shift from peripheral skirmishes to direct energy targeting. The move amplifies an already severe supply shock driven by the near paralysis of flows through the Strait of Hormuz, with emergency stock releases from the IEA and the US failing to offset tightening availability or calm bullish momentum.
The dislocation is most acute in Asia, where benchmark crude prices have decoupled violently from Western markets, exposing a growing structural imbalance in physical supply. Regional buyers are scrambling for alternatives as accessible barrels shrink, while Iran’s explicit threats against key Gulf energy assets raise the risk of further disruption across critical export hubs.
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