PVC prices mostly stable, eyes on Feb announcements
In China, PVC prices did not witness any major changes over the past week despite some local sellers’ increase attempts at the start of the week. Buyers did not show any interest in higher offers given the recent significant decreases in energy costs. Players were mostly sidelined, waiting to hear a major Taiwanese producer’s February PVC prices which are expected to be announced towards the end of this week or the beginning of next week. A trader in Shanghai commented, “Buyers continue to source according to their urgent needs and we think that demand may worsen in the days ahead due to the approaching New Year holidays. Plus, we are still in the off-season while PVC futures are lower due to plunging energy costs. Considering these factors, we are not expecting to see any hike attempts from a Taiwanese major for February despite persistently firm Asian ethylene.” A second trader added, “We heard that some sellers are expecting a Taiwanese major to announce increases on their February PVC offers. However, we think that any hike attempts may not work in the current market conditions.” A source from an acetylene based producer reported that they revised their export PVC offers downward by $5-10/ton to $665/ton FOB, cash due to lower crude oil costs while a source from another producer stated, “We are willing to give $5-10/ton discounts on our offers as demand has worsened in line with the recent crude oil losses.” Meanwhile, several producers confirmed that PVC production rates in China are currently very high.