Sellers struggling to achieve higher PVC prices in India, Turkey

Initial February import PVC prices were announced with increases to Asia this week while sellers in Turkey report that import prices are gradually beginning to increase, as per ChemOrbis. While prices are moving higher, sellers complain that they are facing difficulties concluding deals as buyers are delaying their purchases while complaining that the new prices are too high to accept. Sellers in Turkey report that they are beginning to see some increases in PVC prices after struggling to persuade buyers to accept higher prices during the first half of the month. A trader offering US PVC k67 at a higher level this week reported, “Although demand is not all that encouraging in Turkey, prices have found some support from active demand in nearby countries such as Russia and Egypt.” Another trader expressed a higher sell idea for American PVC, commenting, “Our supplier informed us that they concluded some deals with increases to Russia and are willing to spare some material to Turkey if deals can be done at similar price levels.” Meanwhile, a third trader said, “We believe that the higher prices we are hearing for American PVC are not realistic at the present time. We are having difficulty concluding deals even though we are currently offering close to the lower end of the overall import range.” A pipe manufacturer based in Turkey stated, “We received higher offers for both American and Taiwanese PVC this week. We are not planning to purchase now as our stock levels are comfortable and we expect to see some price relief towards the beginning of February.” Import PVC prices also moved higher in India this week after a major Taiwanese producer lifted their February prices to India and China by US$40-60/ton from January. “We normally export around 60,000-65,000 tons of material, but will only have around 40,000 tons of material to export this month,” a producer source commented. Limited availability and higher spot VCM prices are supporting sellers’ price increases while lackluster demand ahead of the upcoming Chinese New Year holidays is encouraging buyers to hold out for more attractive prices as the holidays draw nearer. An Indian converter manufacturing PVC calendaring commented, “We received higher import prices for both Asian and European materials and we do not find these new offer levels to be acceptable. We are shifting our attention to the local market for now as local prices are more competitive than imports.” A trader based in New Delhi stated, “We received higher Taiwanese PVC prices this week. Demand has not been good within our region due to some holidays in Gujarat state and we believe that the current import prices will prove unsustainable over the medium term.” Another trader told ChemOrbis, “We are cautious about purchasing following the recent price increases as demand is not very good inside India, although we believe that buyers will still need to import this month as local supply is not sufficient to cover the market’s needs. However, we think it will be difficult to finalize deals at the new offer levels.” A trader offering higher US PVC prices to India reported, “Buyers do not find our new prices to be attractive and we are struggling to conclude deals. However, we remain confident that PVC prices will remain firm in February and March.”