MOSOCW (MRC) -- Negotiations over prices of European polyvinyl chloride (PVC) for September shipments to the CIS markets started at the beginning of this week. European producers announced an increase of EUR30/tonne or higher in their export PVC prices, despite a roll-over of the ethylene price, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.
September contract price of ethylene was agreed at the previous month's level, which theoretically allowed to talk about the steadiness of the net cost of PVC production, if compared to August. However, scheduled and unscheduled plants' shutdowns in Europe and globally strong demand for PVC allowed European producers to talk about an increase in export prices for the CIS countries in September. An increase of EUR30-40/tonne in export PVC prices has been under discussion.
Demand for PVC from consumers in the CIS countries remained good due to the seasonal factors, and converters were forced to purchase some of their quantities in Europe, whereas European producers have limited their export sales to a number of regions, including the CIS markets, for the past three months. Restrictions were caused by plants' scheduled shutdowns for maintenance and unscheduled shutdowns for repairs and strong demand from both the domestic market and export markets.
Overall, deals for September shipments of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) to the CIS markets were negotiated in the range of EUR705-750/tonne FCA, whereas the previous month's deals were discussed in the range of EUR665-720/tonne FCA.
MRC