InterviewIndia’s PVC demand to surge 15%

18 September 2007 08:24  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Demand for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in India is expected to grow by 15% to 1.4m tonnes in the financial year ending 31 March, 2008, from 1.2m tonnes the previous year, an industry representative said on Tuesday.

 

“In the first five months of the year (April-August 2007), demand for PVC in India is estimated at 580,000 tonnes, a 19% increase from the same period last year,” C Paparao, senior executive vice president of Reliance Industries’ PVC and polyethylene (PE) business, told ICIS news.

 

The main demand growth drivers for PVC this year had been the construction sector and the water, sanitation and irrigation pipes segment, Paparao said.

 

“The construction boom has seen a high consumption of PVC for pipes and window profiles,” he said.

 

There has been improved growth despite a three-week delay in the start of the peak festival demand season, which usually begins in early September. The market has been sluggish in recent weeks due to a prolonged monsoon season.

 

However, PVC capacity in India only totals about 1m tonnes/year, the shortfall plugged through imports, which have been steadily increasing.

 

“PVC imports into India in the period April-August 2007 have totalled around 190,000 tonnes,” said Paparao. This compared with estimated full-year imports of 340,000 tonnes in 2006, according to market sources.

 

The exceptionally robust demand and tight supply situation exacerbated by outages have driven Reliance and Finolex Industries, the No1 and No2 producers of PVC in India, to import significant volumes from northeast and southeast Asia.

 

Reliance produces about 710,000 tonnes of PVC a year, while Finolex has an output of 265,000 tonnes/year.

By: Prema Viswanathan
+65 6780 4359

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