US PVC re-emerges in Italy and China this month

09-Jun-11

After a period of absence, American PVC offers have started to re-emerge in Italy and China this month as per ChemOrbis. Last month, traders in these countries were unable to import PVC from the US, where producers were coping with production issues. Italy’s PVC market has been following a bearish trend since the end of May with European offers being dominant in the market. This week, this dominance was challenged as materials from overseas sources have started to show up with price decreases albeit for July delivery cargoes. Now, players are reporting the re-emergence of US and Mexican offers in the import market, although they failed to attract strong buying interest as similar prices are prevalent in the local market for prompt materials. Offers for US origins had been absent in Italy through the month of May, as only a couple of producers are able to supply material. Several suppliers including Georgia Gulf are unable to export for the time being. Georgia Gulf Corporation had declared a force majeure on PVC output from its 727,000 tpa plant in Plaquemine, Louisiana on April 14 due to limited ethylene supplies and lower operating rates. According to market sources, the company is planning to lift the force majeure on its PVC supplies from that plant in July. In May, China’s PVC market didn’t see any import PVC offers from the US either, although this origin has reappeared in the country’s import market this month. Unlike Italy, traders offering American PVC are seeing healthy buying interest in China, where the PVC market has been firm for June in defiance of the global downturn. The relative strength in China’s import market stems from firm VCM feedstock costs along with comparatively tight supply as a result of the reduced June allocation from a major regional producer who is facing ongoing plant difficulties.