PVC prices hold steady amidst buying interest in Turkey

In Turkey, both import and local PVC markets have been on a stable note, defying generally soft sentiment in other polymer markets due to year end, as per ChemOrbis. The main reason behind the active market scene has been brisk buying interest especially during last week. With buyers returning to the market to meet their needs after seeing stable offers, purchases at or close to the lower end of the price ranges were reported. In the import market, several buyers purchased European and American PVC cargoes at competitive prices during December, saying that offers started to hover around stable levels following decreases in November. Some players said that they committed to pre-buying activity as they don’t expect to see softening in January. A converter purchased large amounts of American PVC k67 for export oriented end products, allowing him to forgo duty payment on this material. Traders expressed their expectations for a steady to firm trend for the rest of December. A trader continued to offer American PVC to the market after selling out his European cargoes late last week. The prevailing PVC k67 ranges remain unchanged compared to last week for both origins. Sellers are trying to push their prices up but demand is not great mainly due to the year end, according to a trader. For January PVC offers, a West European supplier revealed their new PVC k67 price at the high end of the current import price range. This price stands US$30/ton above a done deal reported last week for the same origin. For this week, distributors maintained their prices flat on locally held PVC materials compared to last week or gave some slight discounts on their deals in a bid to de-stock before the year ends since there is little time remaining now. Although the overall price range held steady, more offers were reported at or close to the lower end amidst done deals on relatively softer sentiment with respect to last week. A window profile producer elected to purchase domestic material at the low end saying that prices saw slight softening despite low stock levels because of the time of year. Another profile maker purchased some prompt material as he found the price advantageous. “Import PVC prices gained some ground,” he mentioned. “We have just purchased European PVC from both the import and local market as prices are not decreasing since November,” another window profile converter said. A pipe producer purchased some material at the low end and commented that prices are steady this week.