MOSCOW (MRC) - Imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Ukraine decreased by 35% in the first three months of this year, compared to the same period in 2016 and reached about 20,900 tonnes, according to MRC DataScope.
March SPVC imports into Ukraine despite a small seasonal increase in demand for finished PVC products fell to 6,700 tonnes against 7,400 tonnes in February. The main reason was limited export quotas and a high level of PVC prices at European producers. Overall SPVC imports were about 20,900 tonnes in January-March 2017, compared to 31,900 tonnes a year earlier. Last year's high figure was a result of low prices in the US in November-December 2015, which led to the fact that some companies were actively building up additional inventories of cheap material at the start of the season. Prices of North American PVC were significantly higher than the European ones in the end of 2016.
Structure of PVC imports into Ukraine over the reported period was as follows.
Last month's SPVC imports from the USA were about 800 tonnes, compared to 1,500 tonnes in February. Imports of North American resin totalled 3,500 tonnes in the first three months of 2017 versus 22,200 tonnes a year earlier. Many Ukrainian companies did not form additional stocks of PVC because of the high export prices at the end of last year.
March imports of European PVC into Ukraine decreased to 3,700 tonnes, compared with 4,600 tonnes in February. Many companies last month, as well as in the current one, failed to fully meet their requirements for PVC because of supplies from Europe. Total imports of European PVC into Ukraine were about 12,300 tonnes in the first three months of the year, compared with 7,100 tonnes year on year.
Last month's imports of Russian SPVC grew to 2,300 tonnes from 1,300 tonnes in February. A significant reduction of Russian resin supplies is expected to be in April due to the introduction of a temporary ban on the import of products from two producers: RusVinyl and Kaustik Volgograd. Shipments of Russian resin slightly exceeded 5,000 tonnes in the first three months of 2017, compared to 2,400 tonnes a year earlier.
MRC