Tosoh hikes May Asia VCM $110/t on bullish PVC

21 April 2008 10:07  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Japan’s largest vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) producer Tosoh Corp has hiked its May VCM cargoes by $110/tonne (€69/tonne) on surging feedstock costs and higher downstream polyvinyl chloride (PVC) values, a company source said on Monday.

The offer, which was released last Friday, was $1,000/tonne CFR (cost and freight) China compared with the April settlement of $890/tonne CFR China.

Spot prices of ethylene, among the key feedstock in the VCM production process, had risen by almost $200/tonne on a CFR NE Asia basis in the past three weeks, according to global chemical market intelligence service ICIS pricing.

Most PVC producers in northeast Asia meanwhile had raised their offers for May cargoes by $60-70/tonne over the previous month.

Tosoh Corp subsidiary Taiyo Vinyl is offering $1,200/tonne CFR China Main Port for May PVC cargoes.

A $200/tonne spread between PVC and VCM prices is usually enough to attract buyers into the VCM market, sellers said, but buying interest to Tosoh’s latest VCM offer was heard to be thin so far as some buyers remained concerned that PVC prices might not remain at their current lofty levels for long.

($1 = €0.63)

For more on PVC and VCM visit ICIS chemical intelligence

By: Hun Wei Ng
+65 6780 4359

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