Tosoh lowers August Asia VCM offer by $120/t

01 August 2008 07:24  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Japan’s largest vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) producer Tosoh Corp has lowered its offer for August cargoes by $120/tonne on subdued demand from Chinese buyers, producers and traders said this week.

The company’s offer now stands at $1,030/tonne CFR (cost and freight) China compared with its July settlement level of $1,000/tonne CFR China, sources said. Counter-bids range from $950/tonne to $980/tonne CFR China.

The sluggish demand from Chinese buyers was due, in part, to the Olympic Games scheduled to start next week, industry sources said.

Logistical constraints imposed to ensure the smooth running of the Games had left many downstream factories with high inventory levels while several polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plants in China were also running at reduced rates due to energy and environmental regulations, further dragging down demand for VCM, traders said.

PVC producers in northeast Asia had earlier raised their offers for August cargoes by $70/tonne over the previous month to $1,320/tonne CFR China but prices had been showing signs of softening since last week on bearish sentiment.

Tosoh has a total capacity of 1.45m tonnes/year.

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By: Ng Hun Wei
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