American PVC sustains firming trend in global markets

PVC offers out of the US continued to firm up in many regions in line with the global upward trend that has been in place since the beginning of the year, as per ChemOrbis. As for April, America’s own market dynamics are also supporting the firming trend for PVC in global markets. The domestic market has witnessed strong PVC demand amidst tight availability stemming from planned and unplanned shutdowns. These factors along with rising production costs have, needless to say, provided ground for domestic sellers to raise their PVC offers while American producers have also adjusted their offers upwards for export markets. However, they are currently seeing restrained buying interest in many regions. In China, an international trader reported its April sell ideas for US PVC with a US$100/ton increase over their March done deal prices. He blamed tight availability in the US and firm production costs for the rise in his sell ideas. The trader added, “Our allocation to China is limited for April as demand from Chinese buyers remains poor and the prevailing market level in China stands below other markets.” This relative shortage of American cargoes has helped major Asian suppliers achieve done deals at or close to their initial offers for April, according to another trader. In the meantime, the competitive domestic market, which trades well below imports, is also playing a role in Chinese buyers’ reluctance to purchase US cargoes as per the pricing service of ChemOrbis. In India, several players also reported receiving US PVC offers on import basis. As is the case in China, there is not much interest for US cargoes from Indian buyers. A distributor said, “The local currency is depreciating against the US dollar, which renders import cargoes uncompetitive for Indian buyers. On top of this factor, increased excise duties are about to hit demand further.” In the Turkish market, American PVC offers have been steadily rising week over week. In the past two to three weeks, several buyers secured US cargoes and replenished their inventories; however, their done deal prices are now considered hardly achievable. The prevailing offer level for American PVC k67 is now standing US$40-50/ton above the late February or early March levels. Nevertheless, a trader admitted seeing almost no buying interest from Turkish buyers at these levels. He said, “We are ready to provide a discount of $10-20/ton for firm bids. I think we need time for buyers to digest our new increases so that we can sell these materials.” In the Egyptian market, import US PVC offers have been stable to firmer since the beginning of March. “Additional firming is likely to occur in the near term given limited supplies from the US and the upcoming high season for PVC,” commented a pipe manufacturer.