Local Converters Activity Amid Traditional Low Season Slowed Down Further PVC Market In Vietnam
- Local traders applied distinct pricing strategies
- Demand remains weak amid the traditional low season, reduced production rate and buying quantity
- Players voiced out higher pricing outlook on import cargoes supported by maintenance shutdown
SSESSMENTS.COM was told that the rate of local converters activity amid the traditional low season slowed down further PVC market in Vietnam. In the domestic market, some converters reported on receiving local ethylene-based PVC offers from traders at VND200,000/ton ($8.5/ton) lower than a local producer’s offers in the previous week. While on a weekly comparison, the traders’ offers were recorded stable as the converters are a regular customer. Contrastingly, some traders are offering local ethylene-based PVC cargoes between VND200,000-300,000/ton ($8.5-13/ton) higher than the producer’s offers. For localized Indonesian and Thailand cargoes, the offers are captured at VND100,000-200,000/ton ($4-8.5/ton) lower than the highest offers available for local ethylene-based PVC in the market. Further added, there no deals concluded in the domestic market so far. From the import market, there are no fresh offers recorded at the time of publication as most players are waiting for August shipment offers from the leading Taiwanese PVC producer.
As reported to SSESSMENTS.COM, demand for PVC resins in the country is sluggish as the finished product sales are affected by the heavy rain. Following the slow demand for finished products, a converter revealed that the company’s production rate decreased by 30% from a month earlier. Meanwhile, another converter reported that the company’s buying quantity for July reduced between 20-30%. As such, most converters are skipping the procurement activity owing to sufficient inventory on hand while some others are still buying on an as-needed basis only to maintain relationships. Moreover, most converters are taking advantage of the low season to plan on company's vacation trip and stop production for a few days. On the supply side, there are no issues reported.
Looking ahead, the majority of Vietnamese market players opined to SSESSMENTS.COM that there is a possibility for import PVC prices to increase further considering the firm VCM prices and upcoming maintenance at leading Taiwanese PVC producer’s plant. However, players are unsure of whether the offers will receive positive feedback as the demand in July is considered the peak of traditional low-season. Considering the situation, some players predict that room for local PVC prices to increase is slim.
