Turkey’s local PVC market hits 17-month high

In Turkey, the locally held PVC market climbed to the highest levels seen in more than one and a half years this week. The main trigger behind the rise was tight prompt supplies amidst vivid demand and reduced import quotas from Europe.

The local PVC k67 range is currently standing at $1180-1200/ton ex-warehouse Turkey, cash inc VAT, up $30/ton on the low end from last week. According to ChemOrbis Price Index, the weekly average price surged around $100/ton compared to the levels of three months ago.

A distributor claimed to hear PVC k67 offers as high as $1230-1250/ton, although this information was not confirmed by any buyers at the time of publication.

Reduced allocations from Europe, which has been the top PVC supplier of Turkey during the first three quarters with more than 265,000 tons, resulted in gradually rising offers from the region since mid-October. Plus, the bullish trend in China amidst tightness caused most US producers to direct their materials to that market considering better netbacks which reinforced the shortage in Turkey.

Despite seasonal factors, which had been the dominant factor during the same month of past years, Turkey’s PVC market remains on a firming trend amidst revived buying interest from manufacturers.

“Prices between $1150-1160/ton disappeared this week. We can hardly get offers from our suppliers as material is severely tight,” buyers who were looking forward to meeting their needs said. A profile maker admits not being able to find PVC, but argues, “The prevailing prices are inflated and triggered by shortness. If the absence of regular European sources ends in Turkey, then PVC may stabilize or even see corrections in December.”