Taiwanese major lifts PVC prices for Feb
In Southeast Asia and India, players report that a Taiwanese major announced their initial February prices with a $10/ton increase at $770/ton to India and at $730/ton to SEA, both on a CIF, cash basis. A trader in India reported receiving new offers for Taiwanese material at $770/ton CIF while placing their buy ideas at $700/ton. "We purchased Iranian PVC at $705/ton and therefore believe that the Taiwanese producer has some room to give discounts on their prices. We feel that other Asian suppliers will not follow the Taiwanese major’s lead this month and will give some reductions on their prices in order to defend their market share. Demand is not that bad, although we would normally expect to see stronger buying interest at this time of year," the trader stated. A converter in India who also reported receiving offers from the Taiwanese major at $770/ton CIF commented, "We find this offer to be too high given the recent losses in energy markets and we believe that the producer will have to agree to some discounts before concluding deals. Their offers are meeting with resistance in the market." A converter based in Vietnam reported purchasing Japanese PVC at $720/ton CIF, adding that they found offers for this origin to be more attractive compared to new prices from Taiwan. Import prices were reported at $680-770/ton to India and at $710-730/ton to SEA, both on a CIF, cash equivalent basis while offers for Chinese acetylene based PVC were reported at $670-685/ton CIF SEA, cash.