The PVC market had been steadily easing in global markets since around the middle of September given comfortable supplies, poor demand and retreating costs, as per the pricing service of ChemOrbis. However, players in different parts of the world have started to comment about diminishing supplies recently, even though demand is still not considered great in any region for this time of the year.
Export PVC offers from the US appear to have pioneered the firming trend in global markets. Scarce export availability from the country was cited as the main reason behind this firming. Some buyers in Turkey had also affirmed that traders could not offer more cargoes for new shipments last week, when a large sized profile manufacturer commented, “I feel that we are coming nearer to the bottom and therefore, I secured some stocks from several sources.”
Higher import US PVC offers have emerged in the Turkish market this week. “An increase of $30/ton is being sought for US PVC offers over last week and we cannot find offers below a certain threshold for this origin now,” commented a distributor. A different trader also reported to ChemOrbis, “There is not much material left in the local market as resellers have not engaged in stock replenishment for some time due to poor demand and their anticipations of seeing further price decreases in November. Resellers may be caught in a possible firming trend with no material in stock.”
Earlier this week, Turkey’s domestic producer Petkim raised its PVC prices by $10/ton. Even though some players interpreted this move as symbolic in order to shift market sentiment higher, a producer source commented that they are not feeling any stock pressure. The source also believes that the decreasing trend is over. “There will be no more decreases, the trend will turn upward from now on,” he commented.
A trader also commented, “Our West European supplier has withdrawn their offers this week. We are expecting our supplier to come with modest price hikes soon. We are seeing very good demand as higher US offers appear to have convinced buyers that the downturn is over. Even those buyers who had secured cargoes before the recent upturn are trying to buy more material this week,” according to the trader. Some comments about limited PVC availability are also voiced in Europe, albeit not so widely, as per ChemOrbis.
A trader in Italy said that their PVC supplier in the Czech Republic has extended its maintenance shutdown and that they have only limited supply for this material now. Since demand in Italy is still described as very lethargic, there are no particular concerns about supply, some players highlighted. Expectations about seeing further decreases still persist in the market, they add.
Unlike the players in Italy, a trader in Belgium commented that PVC demand has started to improve recently in the Benelux countries (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg). “Demand is not excellent, but it has turned quite good lately and is definitely better in comparison with Italy and Spain,” the trader stated. He also pointed out that regional producers are planning to keep their stocks at low levels by trimming their production rates as the end of the year is approaching.
