NewsFlashTosoh settles Asia July VCM up $20/t

15 July 2008 08:14  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Japan’s largest vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) producer Tosoh Corp has settled its benchmark Asia July cargoes up $20/tonne from June levels at $1,000/tonne, a source close to the company said on Tuesday.

 

An estimated 10,000 tonnes of VCM was sold on a cost and freight (CFR) China basis, however the price was $100/tonne below its initial offer released in mid-June, the source added.

 

Buying interest in the July cargoes was reportedly subdued, resulting in protracted negotiations. Counter-bids for Tosoh’s offers were last week heard in the high-$900s/tonne CFR China range.

 

Meanwhile, in the downstream polyvinyl chloride (PVC) market, Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Corp (FPC) last month hiked its benchmark offer for July shipments by $50/tonne over May to $1,250/tonne CFR China.

 

VCM producers and traders attributed the lacklustre buying interest in the market to bearish sentiment among buyers, as well as competitive prices of ethylene dichloride (EDC), another feedstock used in the PVC production process.

 

Tosoh is Japan’s largest VCM producer with a total capacity of 1.45m tonnes/year.

 

For more on PVC, VCM and EDC visit ICIS chemical intelligence

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By: Ng Hun Wei
+65 6780 4359

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