Taiwan’s Formosa PVC export offers dry up amid pollution probe

26 March 2010 08:00  [Source: ICIS news]

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--Taiwan’s Formosa Plastics Corp (FPC) has not quoted any export offers for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) since Thursday amid an ongoing investigation at its vinyls facility in Jenwu, traders said on Friday.

FPC has a 546,000 tonne/year PVC facility at the site in southern Taiwan, which was being probed for contaminating water beneath the plant with carcinogenic chemical – vinyl chloride monomer (VCM).

The producer had stopped quoting offers on the day that Jenwu residents protested at the facility to demand a halt in PVC production, industry sources said. Last week, FPC was offering material at $1,050/tonne (€787.5/tonne) cost and freight (CFR) India, they said.

Concerns that the Jenwu facility would have to be taken down in the coming weeks may have prompted FPC to hold back on offering export volumes, some market players said.

A source close to the company, however, maintained that the slowdown in PVC negotiations had nothing to do with the pollution issue hounding one of FPC’s PVC facilities.

“It is not surprising negotiations had slowed down since FPC had already concluded most of them. I’m sure they will have more to sell if anyone is prepared to meet their asking price,” the source said.

The Jenwu facility produces mostly emulsion-grade PVC and not the more widely-traded suspension grade, said a trader, but this could not be confirmed with FPC.

($1=€0.75)

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