Tight global PVC supply pushes prices to multi-year highs
When coronavirus pandemic-related shutdowns and economic shocks gripped much of the world in April, demand for construction staple polyvinyl chloride careened to lows not seen since the global financial crash in 2008.
Home construction activity cratered. PVC buyers recoiled and sellers chased shrinking pockets of demand, often in vain.
Five months later, it's a starkly different picture. Months of reduced rates, demand recovery and some force majeures on PVC in the US and Europe have pushed prices to multi-year highs. Buyers want the powder that makes pipes, window frames, vinyl siding and other products amid an acute supply squeeze.
"At this moment there's really no product in the market," a US market source said."There's a little coming from Asia. Prices are high. People are buying, in pockets, not everywhere."
US export PVC prices fell 39% in six weeks to a 12-year low of $520/mt FAS Houston on April 29 at the height of the shutdowns. Prices began rebounding in May as shutdowns eased, reaching $800/mt FAS by August.
Then Formosa Plastics USA and Westlake Chemical, two of the four US producers, declared force majeure on PVC in mid and late August. None had resumed fully normal rates post-April amid turnarounds or skittishness about whether improved demand would be sustained. By Sept. 16, prices had doubled from that April 29 low to $1,050/mt FAS, a nine-year high.