European PVC producers have started making their July offers to customers with increases this week. Sources have informed Chem-Courier that two Western European producers have initiated negotiations with a €50/t increase in PVC quotes. Southern European ones are targeting €20—40/t, while Central European manufacturers has been heard to implement €15—20/t rise versus June.

The appreciation has been attributed to persistently low production margins and slightly tighter supply across all sub-regions. Reminder: imports of the US and Egyptian PVC has been declining over the past few months and are expected to cease entirely following the European Commission’s decision to initiate ADD investigation on imports from these countries. In the first four months of 2024, the EU27 imported merely 73,877 t of the US PVC (versus 122,180 t in Jan—Apr 2023) and 19,898 t of the Egyptian one (versus 25,844 t in the corresponding period of 2023). Mexican PVC imports also went down from 65,144 t in 2023 to 53,626 t in 2024.

The production issues at a Poland-based PVC plant along with upcoming planned maintenance at a Hungarian facility further contribute to reduced supply in the region. Availability of K70 has been reportedly low in Central and Southern Europe.

Spot prices are also expected to strengthen in the short term, contrary to previous expectations of stability. However, customers believe that producers may struggle to fully implement the announced €50/t increase, with an appreciation of €20—30/t possibly being accepted. ‘Most clients, especially in construction sector, are still loaded with imported PVC and orders are still lazy, plus August is a holiday month in Italy and fresh orders will be made only for September,’ a player in Southern Europe has commented.

PVC market activity is expected to be brisk in H1 July as customers looking to replenish stocks secure orders at current price levels. August traditionally sees reduced business activity across Europe, while PVC prices are forecasted to rise again in September. Considering this factor, customers may opt to pre-purchase PVC in July for August—September dispatch. The anti-dumping probe on the US and Egyptian PVC will come into force on 12 July, meaning that new orders of this material will be absent in Europe due to quite high duty rates.