Taiwanese major closed PVC orders, demand in India remains inactive

It is reported that a major Taiwanese producer has closed all orders for PVC in India today, only two days after announcing August offers with $20/ton hike from last month. However, actual demand in India has not shown any up-tick and it is believed that there are still quantity remain from the producer.

A Taiwanese trader sold 1000 tons of this material to India at $950/ton CIF India, LC AS term said, “Buying interest is weak, however our regular customers still pick up the cargoes to fulfill production need. Our principal supplier has closed the orders today in India market while allocating larger quantity to China given healthier demand.” There are unofficial market talks that the Taiwanese producer only have 15,000 tons of PVC allocated to India this month, 20,000 tons to China and another 20,000 tons to Southeast Asia and other market. This is well below the regular export allocation, which attributed to the fact that the maker is planning maintenance shutdown in August.

In contrast, Indian traders and distributors are complaining about persistent weak demand as a side effect of GST implementation and the monsoon. Several sources raised doubt about the producer’s ability to deplete their allocation in full at the latest prices with a distributor said, “There are still quantity, however due to lacking of sales pressure, our principal supplier still close orders. Sales are very poor this month.”

Despite such dull condition, many Indian buyers still believed that import offers might continue to firm up in the coming month if demand in China remains healthy. “India is entering monsoon season and buying interest might continue to diminish. Supply for Chinese carbide based PVC is tightening and if condition persist, it is likely that international supplier would hold firm stance on their cargoes in the coming weeks.”