European PVC producers announce May prices

In Italy, initial May PVC prices and sell ideas emerged on a stable to firmer note despite the slightly lower ethylene contracts which settled down €5/ton from April at €1160/ton FD NWE last week, as per ChemOrbis. Prior to the monomer settlements, some distributors had already started giving stable offers for May. However, producers had signaled that they could ask for increases in case of a mostly stable feedstock settlement in order to recover their margins hampered by the weakness in the caustic soda market. A West European producer expressed May sell ideas with increases of €25/ton after settling April gentlemen’s agreements with rollovers to discounts of €5/ton. A source from the producer commented, “Buyers may show resistance to increases given the small drop in the new ethylene settlements, but we expect to see an improvement in demand, especially from the pipe industry.” France’s Kem One announced an increase of €25/ton on their May PVC prices, according to a statement on the company’s website. The company stated that they are planning to recover their margins which were deteriorated by the weak caustic soda market and added that they will not concede to concessions regardless of the monomer contracts. An agent of a Central European producer initially started giving May offers with rollovers ahead of the ethylene settlements. However, the seller is now seeking to raise his prices by €10/ton in line with his supplier’s pricing strategy. “Demand is sluggish as buyers are complaining about their weak end product demand. However, our supplier is targeting to improve their margins. In addition, we heard about larger hike requests of €20-30/ton in the market,” the seller added. A South European producer, on the other hand, elected to roll over their PVC prices from April. A producer source commented that the market is calm as buyers have just returned from their holidays and added that they expect trading activities to revive later this week. A converter also reported receiving steady May offers from another West European supplier who restarted their chlorvinyls operations in the middle of April following a maintenance shutdown that started in end-March. The buyer stated that he prefers to wait before making new purchases due to his sufficient stocks while adding that he expects to see rollovers at most rather than increases. According to ChemOrbis, regarding supply, a Central European producer was expected to start a planned maintenance shutdown at their chlorvinyls site from May 10 until the end of the month. A West European producer was also expected to conduct a scheduled turnaround within this month. However, it is yet to be seen whether these shutdowns will have a notable impact on the market.