Monomer Prices And Weather Split Southeast Asia PVC Market Outlook
- Local PVC price adjustment captured in the Philippines
- Production glitch at Philippines’ General Chemical & Resins Consortium Inc (GenChem)
- Outlook for Southeast Asia PVC market moved into two directions
Southeast Asian PVC market players stated different outlook considering monomer prices and weather conditions. As SSESSMENTS.COM noted, local and import ethylene-based PVC prices in the Southeast Asia market were mostly stable from last week, except in the Philippines. A local ethylene-based PVC producer in the Philippines has announced offers for July delivery with an increase of PHP3,000/ton ($60/ton) as compared to offers for June delivery announced last week. Despite the increases, the producer claimed that the current level is still lower than the offer level before the coronavirus outbreak, hence, received good response from buyers. While in Thailand, local producers maintain the offers unchanged over the week, at THB25,500/ton ($822/ton) on 60 days credit term, FD Thailand basis and excluding 7% VAT. In the import market, import ethylene-based PVC offers of Thailand origin to Malaysia are available at $810/ton. Further added by a converter in Malaysia, Indonesian cargo is the most attractive one in the market, with some deals captured at the initial offer level, at $780/ton. All offers on LC at sight, CIF Malaysia main port basis. Detailed information for Indonesia and Vietnam market is available in WeeklySSESSMENTS of the respective countries.
In terms of demand for PVC resins, Southeast Asian market players reported a different trend. In Thailand, demand remains slow due to sufficient inventory on the converters' end and the rainy season that has started to kick-in. While in the Philippines, buyers have started to buy at normal quantities as the market has started to recover. On the supply front, Malaysian market players told SSESSMENTS.COM that a Thai ethylene-based PVC producer is no longer offering materials to the market as the producer has sold out allocation for July shipment. On the production front, Philippines’ General Chemical & Resins Consortium Inc (GenChem) is facing a production glitch. The producer has yet to get the right particle size and need to adjust the formula. However, the producer claimed that it would not take a long time to solve the problem and the plant is expected to run at the maximum capacity by next week.
Looking ahead, Southeast Asian market players stated two directions for the price trend in July. Some believe that local producers will adjust up the offers on the back of firm monomer prices. While some others stated that PVC prices in the international market would be on the downtrend since monsoon season has started to drench India as the main PVC importer and market direction determinant. Besides, China’s PVC market also shows a downtrend lately, as stated to SSESSMENTS.COM.
