Delayed issuance of new anti-dumping duties structure for PVC causing buyers in India to postpone purchases, prompting producers in northeast Asia to move cargoes to the Middle East, which has created additional competition for US, Latin America

Elyse Blye

LONDON , May 9, 2014 (ICIS Chemical Business (CBNB Abstracts)) – The delayed issuance of the new anti-dumping duties (ADDs) structure for polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has caused Indian buyers to postpone purchases, prompting some major northeast Asian producers including China to move cargoes to the Middle East markets at competitive prices which created additional pricing competition for US and Latin American material. PVC prices in Asia has declined from $1070/tonne CFR (cost and freight) southeast Asia on 21 Feb to $1017/tonne CFR southeast Asia, an average decline of $53/tonne. US PVC prices have dropped from around $1040/tonne FOB (free on board) USG (US Gulf) to an average of about $1000/tonne FOB USG during the first two weeks of Apr. The $40/tonne decline in Formosa's Asian benchmark price has caused price drops in the US, Europe and Latin America. However, the decline is expected to end as the Indian Department of Commerce distributed on 8 Apr the revised ADDs that were imposed against suspension grade PVC imports from the US, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Mexico and the EU. Chinese PVC imports will be charged ADDs in the range of $91.27-147.90/tonne. Formosa's PVC imports from Taiwan and the EU and PVC imports from South Korean producers LG Chem and Hanwha are exempt from ADD payments. All other Taiwanese PVC imports from Taiwan or any other country will be charged ADDs in the range of $9.47-61.25/tonne. ADDs on US imports are set at $115.54/tonne but ADDs of $29.99/tonne are set for Westlake Chemical and $31.22/tonne for Tricon Dry Chemicals. Other major US producers include Shintech, Axiall and OxyChem. Mexichem's PVC imports will be charged ADDs of $88.10/tonne, while all other Mexican PVC imports from Mexico will be charge ADDs of $163.05/tonne. Imports from the European Union (EU) are subject to ADDs of $189.99/tonne, while imports from INEOS ChlorVinyls Belgium NV, INEOS Vinyls Deutschland GmbH (Germany), INEOS Sverige AB (Sweden) and INEOS ChlorVinyls Ltd (UK) are at $39.65/tonne. In 2013, total PVC demand in India stood at 2.25 M tonnes, 1.25 M tonnes of which are locally produced.

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