American PVC prices for Feb appear in China
In China, American PVC prices for February emerged over the past week after a Taiwanese major announced their new offers with a $10/ton increase from January. February PVC prices for American origins were reported at $690-700/ton on a CFR China, cash basis, mostly stable when compared to the levels last seen in mid-January. Meanwhile, a converter reported that they were offered February shipment PVC by a major Taiwanese producer at $730/ton CF, cash. The buyer commented, “We are still waiting to hear our Japanese supplier’s February PVC prices before deciding on our next move as we believe that they will announce a decrease of around $30/ton on their new offers. Meanwhile, we are planning to limit our purchases according to our immediate needs due to the approaching Chinese New Year holidays.” Overall import PVC prices were mostly stable during the week while many players expressed their expectations of seeing an improvement in demand after the end of the holidays. According to players’ reports, a major Taiwanese producer has already concluded their February business without giving discounts. Inside China, a trader reported that local prices increased by CNY100-150/ton ($16-23/ton) for acetylene based PVC and by CNY50/ton ($8/ton) for ethylene based PVC. The smaller increases reported for ethylene based PVC were attributed to declining Asian ethylene. “We feel that prices will not increase further until the start of the holidays as sellers may not elect to stand too firm on their offers nowadays in order to conclude some last minute deals before entering the holidays,” the trader commented.