India’s PVC price range narrows as low-end Chinese offers fade amid ADD speculation

India’s PVC players are keeping an eye on the anticipated anti-dumping duty (ADD) investigation outcome, while import prices have stayed on a stable-to-rising trend over the past month as low-end Chinese offers have largely disappeared. Players mostly see a rangebound market after the Diwali holidays unless any prohibitive anti-dumping duties spell a surge in import costs.

“We see the market trading in a healthy range in the near term. We don’t see any big spikes ahead,” said a Singapore-based trader on the Indian market.

Players hold back amid ADD uncertainty

Caught between the continuing wait for the announcement of anti-dumping duties on the one hand, and festival holidays, on the other, PVC trading in India has turned dull. Import prices have edged up slightly at the low end, with low-end Chinese offers disappearing, while the high ends remained at $800/ton CIF, the level at which a major Taiwanese producer sold its October and November allocations.

Both buyers and sellers are sitting on the sidelines, observing an absence of clear market direction. “We’re seeing most players away on leave ahead of the holidays for Diwali, India’s festival of lights. People don’t want to take a trading position at the moment, as market talk is still rife on the likelihood of ADD being announced shortly,” a major Mumbai-based trader said.

“Nobody wants to buy or sell currently as there’s no sense of direction in the market. Buyers are wary of committing to cargoes as they might suffer in the case of ADD being imposed when their booked shipments are already in the high seas,” another trader added.

At the same time, a Singapore-based trader was of the view that the market should not care much about ADD as any impact of its imposition would be the same across the market.

Price recovery seen on lower end of market range

After a nearly 20% drop in India’s PVC K67 import prices over the three months starting from late June, prices have recovered by approximately 3%—or $20/ton—since the third week of September, recently assessed at $750-800/ton CIF. The recovery was most evident at the lower end as low-priced Chinese materials exited the market, narrowing the price range. Despite soft FOB China prices, Chinese exports to India are challenged by both ADD concerns and the Diwali holiday period.



Price strengthening started after a major Taiwanese producer kept October pricing mostly stable for Asian markets and continued to set November benchmark levels at $800/ton CIF India. The supplier’s November allocations to India reportedly total about 25,000 tons.

Following the Taiwanese producer’s price updates, South Korean offers have aligned at similar levels, while Japanese duty-free offers were reported at $865/ton CIF India, translating to slightly above $800/ton CIF for dutiable material. While traders are observing consistent levels from South Korean suppliers post-benchmark announcements, Japanese suppliers have not yet issued further offers.

“After the latest benchmark prices were notified, we haven’t seen any offers at the low-ends into India. We’re not sure whether Chinese sellers are offering any shipments currently, but we don’t think any Chinese origins are currently available below $750/ton CIF India. But if there are offers from China, they are all mostly under the radar,” said a PVC trader in Mumbai, India’s business hub. At the same time, another trader said Chinese offers were in a $760-780/ton CIF range.

Added a manufacturer of pipes and profiles in southern India, “From what we’re hearing, next offers from sellers of Japanese origins are likely to rise as they see a better trading sentiment all-round.” The Singapore-based trader said the current duty-free selling ideas for different Japanese origins ranged between $840-880/ton CIF India, that translated to dutiable levels between $780/ton and 815/ton CIF.

Local availability remains ample

At the same time, local prices in India have seen a nearly 19% dip since the second half of June. “The domestic market in India still has ample availability, as more imports are coming in on a regular basis,” a Delhi-based trader said.

ChemOrbis Stats Wizard show PVC imports into India in the first eight months of the current year have jumped by about 17% compared to the same period of the previous year. The country’s PVC imports in July-August alone jumped by more than 50%.