Import PVC prices plunge to 2011 low in SEA

27-Sep-11

Import PVC prices are moving lower for the fourth consecutive week in Southeast Asia as persistently weak demand along with tumbling upstream costs pushed sellers into agreeing to further reductions on their October prices per the plastics pricing service ChemOrbis. This was after producers had already announced their initial October import prices with significant decreases from September last week. Import PVC prices tumbled $50/ton at the start of this week and have lost a cumulative total of $160/ton over the past month. This precipitous drop in prices has brought import PVC prices on a CIF SEA, cash equivalent basis to their lowest levels since September of 2010. Import PVC prices have fallen nearly $350/ton from the peak levels of 2011 reported in late April. Sellers attributed their latest round of price decreases to weak demand, with one Thai producer predicting that prices would witness further declines in the days ahead. The producer, who had announced their initial October prices last week with a drop of $50-80/ton from their September done deal level, lowered their prices by an additional $70-80/ton this week, bringing the producer’s cumulative decrease amount for October to $130-150/ton. A PVC compounder in Singapore reported purchasing a small amount of material from their regular supplier in Indonesia with a significant decrease from their most recent done deal level. The compounder said that they purchased this material for the sake of maintaining good relations with their supplier, adding that they expect to see additional decreases of around $35/ton in the days ahead. A pipe manufacturer in Vietnam placed bids at prices $40-50/ton below the offer levels they received for Taiwanese PVC this week per the plastics pricing service ChemOrbis. The converter commented that they are planning to delay their purchases until October as demand for their end products is not particularly good and they expect to see lower prices emerging in the days ahead. A trader based in Vietnam said that they are considering shifting some of their cargoes to China, which could place some downward pressure on import PVC prices in the Chinese market, which opened the week largely unchanged after recording decreases of $35-60/ton last week.