MOSCOW (MRC) -- Negotiations over May shipments of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) began in the Russian market on 25 April 2019. Local producers announced a price increase of Rb2,000/tonne for shipments to the domestic market, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.
Amid seasonal growth in demand and higher feedstocks prices, Russian producers intend to achieve an increase in May contract SPVC prices. Most producers announced a price rise of Rb2,000/tonne from April, but some buyers intend to limit the growth of contract prices by a smaller amount.
Demand for PVC has been growing gradually from the domestic market month by month, but at the same time, some producers have maintained relatively high exports since the beginning of the year, shipping excessive quantities of polymer to foreign markets. Significant export volumes are also expected in May.
Prices of Russian resin has been constantly rising since the beginning of the year, with April being the exception. And on the back of this, some buyers resumed their purchases in foreign markets, particularly, in China, in March, but at the same time, they had to state that there were serious problems with shipments of acetylene PVC from China.
Sellers of North American PVC also began to actively enter the Russian market in the second half of April. Some negotiators said PVC imports from the United States are a good alternative to Russian resin, but, as is the case with China, delivery is quite long. And this is the main negative factor.
There is no shortage of PVC in the Russian market, despite large export volumes. At the same time, the market balance may change in the near future because of shutdowns for maintenance. Thus, Kaustik Volgograd plans to shut its production capacities for a three-week turnaround in mid-May. And two producers - Bashkir Soda Company and SayanskKhimPlast - will shut their PVC production capacities simultaneously in mid-July.
May deals for resin with K=64/67 were negotiated in the range of Rb76,000-78,500/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, for lots of less than 500 tonnes. For special grades, particularly, with K=58/70, prices were higher by Rb1,000-2,000/tonne.
MRC