American PVC prices soften slightly in Mediterranean

The Chemorbis Calculated Export Prices for PVC from the United States show slight softening over the past week following a steadily rising trend in previous weeks. The Export Prices from the US are calculated using actual PVC prices offered from the US to the countries of Turkey and Egypt and using reported freight rates between the countries for the netback value. A trader in Turkey commented, “Ramadan is usually a slow season and therefore, we don’t expect a good sales performance. Our sales have already slowed down and we receive lower counter bids from our customers. We may concede to discounts of $10/ton on our k70 offers in order to conclude deals. We also managed to conclude some deals for small amounts of US cargoes, around 200 tons each, at the low end of our offer range. On the other hand, sellers are not rushing to sell since buyers will need to replenish some stocks after Ramadan.” Another trader said, “We expect some decreases on US offers and we are willing to give discounts of around US$10/ton on our offers. On the other hand, we don’t believe European PVC prices will soften despite the August holidays. A couple of the major European producers do not have any materials. One of them only has deliveries for end of July and another major offers for end of August delivery. A third producer has little material to offer.” Two other traders commented that US offers are mainly stable this week. One of the traders is offering at the low end of the overall import range for American PVC and said he kept his offer steady this week, though he has already sold out his Iranian and Egyptian materials. The other said market levels are more or less stable though the low end of his range is down $10/ton from the price reported last week. He noted that buyers are resistant to higher prices because of the higher dollar parity. In Egypt, players reported that US import offers were mostly steady from the previous week, though the low end of the range appeared lower compared to the previous week as few offers were collected in the wake of the June 30 demonstrations. One converter said, “We haven’t received any change in import US PVC pries, but it may be due to the fact that agents are not asking for new prices since they have not received any enquiries from buyers.” According to ChemOrbis, another converter said, “Our import offers were unchanged but we don’t expect a price cut for now.” Another noted, “We are unhappy with the market conditions here, business was slow before the June 30 protests, but it has become even worse since then. Players are not interested in engaging in purchases and production activities are diminishing.” A pipe maker countered, “We are running our plant at normal operating rates, otherwise it will cost more to stop it, but we don’t have plans to make purchases until after the Ramadan feast.