SEA’s PVC demand picks up following July decreases

Players in Southeast Asia report that PVC demand has picked up this month in spite of the fact that July is not usually a good month in terms of PVC demand in the region. Many buyers who had elected to stay away from the market in June have returned following the steep July decreases implemented in the region’s local markets. The recent upward movement in upstream costs was also cited as a factor supporting healthier PVC demand as many players feel that the market is close to the bottom of its current declining trend.

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A source at a Philippine producer stated, “We lowered our prices by PHP3000-5000/ton ($71-118/ton) for July. We have been receiving a greater number of price inquiries since our most recent decreases, but have not been able to finalize any deals yet. We are hopeful that we will be able to sell more material in July than we did in June.” A PVC compounder in the Philippines added, “We are looking to purchase some material soon as we did not purchase any material in June.”

A Thai converter manufacturing plastic pipes commented, “Demand for end products is usually sluggish in July owing to the monsoon season, but our end product sales are healthy for now. We are planning to purchase some material soon to ensure that we can maintain stable inventory levels.” A Thai producer also reported seeing unusually healthy demand for July this year, saying, “Our sales have improved when compared with the past month. Many buyers had been away from the market in June in anticipation of lower July prices. In addition, end product demand has been bolstered by the fact that some converters are still working to cover the backlogs built up during last year’s flooding.”

In Vietnam, a domestic producer said that they lowered their July decrease amount to $10-30/ton this week after announcing $45-65/ton decreases on their initial July prices. “We raised our prices along with firmer upstream costs this week. Our sales have picked up in July following two months of disappointing sales in May and June,” a producer source reported.

A source at a Malaysian producer added, “We are optimistic about our sales for July and August even though these months are normally a slow season. We are receiving a greater number of inquiries these days and are currently in negotiations with our customers as we find buyers’ price ideas to be too low to accept.”