Good demand pushes PVC prices up in Southeast Asia

Price hikes for PVC have surfaced this week in Southeast Asian countries with many regional producers up-adjusting their local and export offers, as per ChemOrbis. Apart from the push from higher input costs, the healthy demand from the region has given sellers real support to ask for increases. At the same time, many buyers find domestic prices more competitive and prefer to meet their requirements from their local markets. In Indonesia, a producer raised local PVC offers by US$50-70/ton when compared to February done deals. A company source commented, “Strong local demand and high feedstock costs have caused tight supply.” As it was the case last month, the producer is allocating a limited amount for export markets and is planning an increase of US$40/ton for PVC cargoes with April shipment. Regarding the market outlook, he told ChemOrbis, “Now that demand is improving and supply appears to remain limited in line with the tight availability of VCM feedstock, the PVC market is likely to maintain its firm trend for a while.” In Malaysia, a domestic producer reported holding its PVC offers stable to the local market while it is considering implementing a hike next week. “Demand has improved in the local market and we are receiving more inquiries from buyers,” commented a source from the producer. Meanwhile, the same producer has revealed its export PVC offers with increases to the region, blaming high feedstock costs. However, their offers are not found competitive as other Southeast Asian suppliers provide more competitive offers. A second producer in the country lifted its local PVC offers by MYR50/ton (US$16/ton), saying that demand has started to pick up and feedstock costs are higher. In the Thai market, demand has been performing quite well since December. Accordingly, a domestic producer lifted its offers for March by THB2000/ton (US$65/ton) this week over February. The producer is also planning to raise its export offers for April albeit only for a small allocation. In Vietnam, buyers mostly reported stable prices on a weekly basis in the local PVC market after price decreases were seen in the second half of February. Converters, particularly from the pipe industry, say that their end product demand has somewhat picked up this month. Even the buyers holding sufficient stocks at the moment comment, “The current local market level is reasonable and we can consider making purchases.” They note that the local market is competitive and they prefer to buy from local suppliers. When looking at the Philippine market, a domestic producer reported adjusting its PVC offers up by PHP2000/ton (US$47/ton) over last month. A distributor commented, “There are lots of import cargoes in the market; however, we plan to replenish stocks of Southeast Asian origins.” He added that PVC demand is better in the local market.