Ample US offers weigh on PVC buy ideas in Asia

PVC buying ideas in Asian markets have gone further south after a major Taiwanese producer’s May prices were notified and US origin offers were noted at the low ends.

Asian markets returned after the Chinaplas trade fair and Eid-ul-Fitr holidays and were greeted early last week by sharp $60-80/ton cuts in the Taiwanese PVC K67 offers at $820/ton CIF India, $805/ton CIF China and $760/ton FOB Taiwan. In the meantime, traders have reported US origin K67 being offered at $800/ton CIF India, $790/ton CIF China and $770/ton CIF Vietnam.

K67 buying ideas dip below $800/ton in India

Latest reports point to US export prices of PVC K67 at $710-720/ton FAS Houston. Indian traders said the latest US export pricing pointed to CIF India prices in the low-$800s/ton.

Although Asian sellers haven’t bothered to cater to the bids at the low end so far, such reports have led to buying ideas crashing. “We’ve received bids as low as $770/ton CIF India for US shipments. These numbers are unworkable, but they do show up the bearishness,” an Indian trader said.

Vietnam has also reportedly seen ample US origin volumes. “US origins haven’t been sold out – and there are ample volumes being offered – because demand is weak even at the low prices. It may because of the long shipping time from the US, which carry a pricing risk,” a trader said. He added that the frozen property market currently has ended up pulling down PVC demand in Vietnam by almost half.

A source at a Chinese producer also pointed to considerable deep-sea ex-US Gulf origins in Asia. “The Taiwanese price cuts are significant and larger than expectations. There have been many competitive offers which have landed in Asia, especially deep-sea ex-USG origins,” he added.

Import prices down 13-15% since early Feb

ChemOrbis Price Index data show CIF India K67 prices have fallen by 15%, while CIF China prices are down 13% and Southeast Asian by 14% since the downtrend kicked off in early February.

PVC K67 prices on CIF India, China, and Southeast Asia were assessed at $800-840/ton, $770-800/ton and $770-810/ton, respectively, last week. Chinese origin offers were at the high end of the Indian assessments. But traders say the current Chinese offers are at $820-830/ton CIF India. Few offers were heard from Japan and Korea this week.