MOSCOW (MRC) -- There has been a shortage of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) in the world since the end of last year, prices are breaking new historical records. The Russian market also does not stand aside from the global trends, producers intend to achieve a further rise in April prices, and in some cases, a price increase of Rb10,000/tonne and higher is being discussed, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.
In March, PVC prices grew again in all regions of the world due to the shortage. And producers announced a further price increase for April shipments, as demand remained strong, and supply was still insufficient. And although Russian producers are not going to raise their export sales, despite more attractive prices in foreign markets in comparison with the domestic one, domestic prices are still being pulled up to the level of the export parity. Russian producers intend to achieve prices of more than Rb130,000/tonne for April shipments of some SPVC grades.
Russian converters still did not have import alternative for prompt shipments, but many converters were not ready to accept new price records either. Some of them even did not even rule out a pause in resin purchases if they are not able to agree with end consumers on new prices for finished products.
The rise in PVC prices in Russia has been continuing since last summer, and many converters were very late in transferring new prices of material onto their finished products. And this is a key factor in negotiations over April deliveries.
Russian producers said in April that Chinese manufacturers had an attractive level of export prices. Offer prices for container shipments started from USD1,260/tonne DAP Moscow, or given all taxes, it was about Rb122,000/tonne, including VAT and delivery, for resin with K=65. But there was one nuance - given the latest difficulties in logistics, the resin will reach the consumer no earlier than mid-May.
This year's export sales of Russian SPVC are comparable to the level of 2020. Although some producers do not rule out an increase in export shipments in case of weaker demand in April from the domestic market due to new price levels.
Discussions on prices for April shipments of Russian PVC began in late March, but some producers postponed the start of negotiations several times. Last week, deals for Russian resin with K64/67 were negotiated in the range of Rb121,500-130,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, for quantities of up to 500 tonnes, versus Rb116,000-120,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT, in March. Deals for resin with K=70 started from Rb130,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.
MRC