Q2 Argentina PVC exports up 11% - Solvay Indupa

10 August 2007 23:51  [Source: ICIS news]

BUENOS AIRES (ICIS news)--Second-quarter polyvinyl chloride (PVC) exports from Argentina  were up by 11% from the previous quarter but they may fall during the third quarter due to changes in local demand and the country’s energy woes, a spokesman for Argentina’s sole producer said on Friday.

Second-quarter export volumes totalled 20,000 tonnes, up by 2% from the same period last year, according to producer Solvay Indupa.

“The volume of exports depends directly on the behaviour of local demand”, Solvay Indupa market relations coordinator Carlos Imposti said in Spanish.

In 2006, more than the 40% of the PVC produced in Argentina was exported, with Brazil receiving 65% of the exports and 35% going to Peru, Chile, Bolivia and Paraguay.

Of the amount that remained in Argentina, 60% was absorbed by the housing and infrastructure industries. The other 40% was used in medicine, packaging, credit cards and consumer plastics, such as toys.

Argentina’s construction activity in the second quarter was up by about 8% compared with the same period of 2006; June activity grew 14% from the same month of last year, Solvay Indupa said.

Local PVC demand has continued to grow and absorb some of the amount that would have been exported, Imposti said. Exports grew in the second quarter but they were lower than what they had been years before, he said.

Construction activity, along with energy restrictions in Argentina, may take a larger bite out of exports during the third quarter, Imposti said.

A PVC distributor in Brazil said imports from Argentina have fallen to an average of 2,000 tonnes/month from 6,000 tonnes/month since the Argentine government began restricting exports several weeks ago due to the winter energy shortage.

Solvay has forecast Argentina will produce 190,000 tonnes of PVC this year, the same amount as in 2006.

However, Argentina’s energy problems have made it difficult to predict PVC production for the remainder of the year, Imposti said.

Solvay Indupa invested more than $7m (€5.1m) last year to increase nameplate capacity 15%, but ethylene supply issues and energy problems could make the company fall short of its goal, Imposti said.

(Additional reporting by Greg Holt)

By: Cristina Kroll
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