PVC offers meeting with significantly better demand in Southeast Asia

19-Oct-10

PVC sellers in Southeast Asia report that their offers are meeting with significantly better demand this month when compared with the past month. As per Chemorbis, the buyers (converters) commented that they have become more active in the market this month as they have been seeing normal demand for end products and have needed to replenish their raw material stocks accordingly. Most sellers reported being disappointed with their September business, with producers in Indonesia and Thailand commenting that they had to agree to significant reductions from their initial September offer levels before concluding deals while a Vietnamese producer who had begun the month of September planning to sell their entire allocation to the domestic market stated that they ultimately decided to divert 40% of the monthly allocation to export markets such as India, as demand in Vietnam was insufficient to absorb their allocation. Sellers pointed to a number of September holidays in China and Southeast Asia along with reduced demand from the construction sector towards the year end period as the main factors weighing down on demand last month. For October, sellers across the region reported that they are already seeing significantly better demand from their customers. While demand from the construction sector is still sluggish, converters in the automotive sector are seeing better demand for their end products. After failing to make sales at their initial offer levels for September, Indonesian producers nominated their initial October offer levels at prices equal to their initial September offers, with producers adding that they have already managed to conclude some deals at their initial October offer levels. A Thai producer, who had announced their October offers to the domestic market at the beginning of the month with price increases of THB250/ton (US$8/ton) from September while adding that they did not think they would be able to make deals at this price level, reported that they have already sold 90% of their October allocation to the domestic market at their initial price. A trader in Malaysia, who had sold some materials at discounted prices towards the end of September, revised their sell ideas higher this week in response to improved demand from their customers.