Firmer import prices shore up December sentiment in SE Asia’s local PVC markets

Players in Southeast Asia’s local PVC markets, who had been expecting to see December prices to the region’s local markets announced with rollovers to decreases earlier this month, say that they are feeling less confident about these expectations now that import prices have changed direction, as per ChemOrbis. Decrease expectations are narrowing towards the end of the month and some players are even beginning to speculate that producers may come with increases on their December prices. Last week, a Thai producer had expressed their December sell ideas to the domestic market with a THB1500/ton (US$49/ton) decrease from November. While the producer still has not announced their December prices, converters and distributors in Thailand report that they are now expecting smaller decreases or even slight increases on initial December prices. “Demand is steady in the local market for now and we believe that domestic prices will be stable to THB500/ton (US$16/ton) softer next month,” a distributor commented. Another distributor commented, “Our suppliers have indicated that they are planning to lift their prices for December as they are planning to export more material to Indonesia and Malaysia and will therefore have less material to offer to the local market.” A Thai converter manufacturing plastic sheets commented, “Our suppliers indicated that they plan to raise their prices next month due to stronger regional trends. We are seeing normal demand for our end products these days.” Domestic prices moved lower in Malaysia over the past week, although sentiment is shifting and most players feel that no further decreases are likely. “Demand for our end products is not all that encouraging, but we purchased some local material to build stocks as we believe that prices will be steady for December and may move higher in January,” a PVC pipe manufacturer reported. A source at a Malaysian producer stated, “We are not selling in large quantities for now as prices are stabilizing this week and we think that the market is set to move higher in the coming month.” In Indonesia, a domestic producer who had given their December sell ideas with US$10/ton decreases last week said that they elected to roll over their initial December prices this week. “December is generally a slow month in terms of PVC demand, but we are seeing stronger demand from both the local market and the regional market for the coming month. We believe that demand from the construction sector will begin to pick up in January and that demand from consumer goods industries will support the market in December,” a producer source told ChemOrbis. Another domestic producer expressed their December sell ideas with US$20/ton decreases, attributing their decrease targets to their desire to capture greater market share. “We are seeing good demand from the local market and may not be able to offer our normal monthly allocation next month owing to VCM supply limitations,” a producer source reported.