PVC market proceeds with caution

Following the announcement on February prices from a major Taiwanese maker, buyers in China, Southeast Asia and India are now very cautiously considering their purchases.  

An international trader said, “We have yet to see any major deal concluded till now, even in India market. We are very uncertain about the market outlook in the near term, hence we prefer to remain conservative.”

In India, players are very concern about the prospect of demand in the near term, with some traders reported that buying interest has slowly move to south. The availability of Iranian cargoes at competitive level is adding more weight to the already inertia market. A trader commented, “We received Iranian cargoes at $680-690/t in jumbo bag, CIF India term and we are still considering. We have yet to decide on purchases from major Fareast Asia makers as we feel the offer is a bit high.”

In Vietnam, buyers reported receiving $20/t discount from initial offers for Taiwanese material to $710/t CIF term would they proceed with purchases. A buyer said, “We did not immediately confirm our order because we want to check out some carbide offers first.” Meanwhile, a converter in Malaysia is complaining about weak end product demand, which caused 30% reduction in profit margin last year. The source added that he is in no rush to make fresh purchase now and prefer to be on the sideline waiting for clearer market direction.

Please visit CommoPlast PVC Price Table for updated daily prices in Asia market.