Jan US PVC contracts settle flat on feedstock gains

05 February 2009 21:51  [Source: ICIS news]

HOUSTON (ICIS news)--US polyvinyl chloride (PVC) contracts for January settled at a rollover from the prior month, buyers and sellers said on Thursday.

As a result of the flat settlement, US PVC contract prices were assessed unchanged at 51-53 cents/lb ($1,124-1,168/tonne,  €877-911/tonne) for pipe grade resin and 55-57 cents/lb for general purpose grade material.

The settlement ended a recent downward trend for US PVC prices, and buyers said they had initially expected a price reduction in January after weak demand and low feedstock costs pushed prices 14 cents/lb lower across November and December.

However, participants said feedstock US ethylene contract prices rebounded from losses in the fourth-quarter to post a 3 cents/lb increase in January, squeezing the margins of producers who then pushed hard for the rollover settlement.

Producers nominated a 5 cents/lb price hike for February contracts based on rising feedstock costs, but buyers said they would hoped to delay the increase until March in the hope that demand would improve.

US PVC producers include Formosa Plastics, Occidental Chemical, Westlake Chemical, Shintech and Georgia Gulf.

($1 = €0.78)

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By: Greg Holt
+1 713 525 2653

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