Dec PVC prices announced lower to Asia despite firming ethylene

20-Nov-15

A major Taiwanese producer has announced their December PVC prices to China, Southeast Asia and India with decreases from November despite firming ethylene costs in Asia, as reported on www.ChemOrbis.com. ChemOrbis Price Wizard shows that spot ethylene prices on a CFR China basis have climbed by around US$250/ton since the first week of September due to limited availability. In spite of this significant gain in ethylene costs, the Taiwanese major elected to reduce their new prices by US$60/ton to China, US$40-60/ton to Southeast Asia and US$50/ton to India when compared to their most recent November levels. Asian players attributed the producer’s visible decreases for December to persistently bearish sentiment which has been dominating Asian markets for some time in the face of weak demand amidst the slowing Chinese economy. Some players also argued that the producer may have reduced their offers visibly in order to maintain their competitiveness against other origins such as the US. Following the producer’s decreases for December, import PVC k67 prices on a CFR China basis declined to their lowest levels since May 2009, according to data from ChemOrbis Price Index. The data also shows that the gap between import PVC prices on a CFR China basis and spot ethylene prices on a CFR Far East Asia basis has increased to US$308/ton, the largest level since late July. A source from the Taiwanese producer commented, “Our December PVC allocation is 5000 tons less than our normal quota due to our maintenance shutdown. Still, we issued decreases on our new offers to the Chinese market in order to maintain our competitiveness amidst limited demand. We are aiming to deplete our stocks until the end of the year.” According to him, the producer is willing to give US$10/ton discounts to buyers purchasing more than 1000 tons. In September, China imported 57,194 tons of PVC, up 6.6% from August. The top PVC exporter to China was the United States with 24,485 tons of PVC, followed by Japan (14,140 tons) and Taiwan (13,871 tons).