Russia April SPVC prices roll over

MOSCOW (MRC)–Negotiations over April shipments of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) began in the Russian market this week, with local producers reporting a rollover of March prices to the domestic market, according to ICIS-MRC Price report.

Prices of Russian polyvinyl chloride (PVC) have already risen three times since the beginning of the year, buyers had been concerned about further price increases in April.

Producers’ stocks are small due to large exports at the beginning of the year, with limited import alternatives. Despite these factors, Russian producers announced that March prices rolled over for next month’s deliveries.

Demand for PVC still remained weak from the domestic market because of seasonal factors, but producers do not have large stocks of resin, with some selling out all their quotas even in the first weeks of the month.

There is the possibility of alternative and profitable PVC shipments from Europe and China, but supply is tight and could not completely replace Russian resin.

Quantities of foreign purchases of PVC in China rose in March under the pressure of another increase in Russian PVC prices, but are still not sufficient to put pressure on national producers. Some quantities of March contract material will enter the market only in April due to the complexity of logistics.

The Russian rouble strengthened against the dollar in the second half of March, and prices began to go down in Asia, with these factors significantly limiting the possibility of raising April prices for the domestic market from Russian producers.

Despite all these negative factors, demand for resin is still expected to increase from the domestic market in April.

April deals for resin with K=64/67 were negotiated in the range of Rb74,000-76,500/tonne ($1,112-1,150/tonne) CPT Moscow, including VAT, which corresponded to March level, for quantities of up to 500 tonnes. The price spread for special grades, particularly, with K=58/70, was more substantial and in some cases reached Rb79,000/tonne CPT Moscow, including VAT.

($1 = Rb66.55)

MRC, a partner of ICIS, produces polymers news and pricing reports from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.