In this week’s "America Market Movers" with Jennifer Pedrick: *The United States is concerned about evading sanctions because...

Rosneft plans to increase the level of natural gas production in its portfolio as...

Petrobras, the Brazilian national oil company, halted natural gas production in the Manati oil field,...

From January to October, U.S. PVC exports fell by 23.7% year-on-year: ITC

Market Movers Americas, December 13-17: The United States is concerned about evasion of sanctions, and shipping is supported during holidays

Rosneft is betting on natural gas in the energy transition to promote the right to export to Europe: report

Commodity Tracker: 4 charts to watch this week

Due to weather-related shutdowns and operational issues, export supplies will fall in 2021

Egypt imposes 9% anti-dumping duty on U.S. PVC

According to data released by the U.S. International Trade Commission on December 8, U.S. PVC exports in the first 10 months of 2021 fell by 23.7% year-on-year.

Receive daily email reminders, subscriber notes and personalize your experience.

Data show that from January to October, the United States exported 1.6 million tons of PVC, down from 2.1 million tons in the same period in 2020.

PVC is a construction staple used in the manufacture of pipes, window frames, vinyl siding and other products.

Due to strong domestic demand, U.S. PVC exports will decline in 2021, and the tight supply is mainly due to weather-related shutdowns, as well as turnover and operational issues. The pull of domestic demand led to the decline in the overall supply of PVC, reducing the typical outflow.

Canada remains the largest export market for PVC in the United States, receiving 470,689 tons in the 10 months of 2021, an increase of nearly 26% from the 374,004 tons in the same period last year.

However, compared with 221,860 tons in the same period in 2020, exports to China in the 10 months of 2021 have dropped significantly to 19,737 tons. Market sources attributed this plunge to arbitrage basically shutting down to Asia throughout 2021. The price trend in Asia is lower than that because of the historical highs of freight out of the region by the United States throughout the year.

Mexico was the second largest destination for US PVC exports from January to October 2021, receiving 228.928 metric tons, accounting for 14% of all outflows.

Egypt imposes anti-dumping duties on U.S. PVC

ITC data shows that Egypt is the third largest export market, with an import volume of 86,393 metric tons, accounting for 5.3% of the total.

In 2020, Egypt is the fourth largest export market for PVC in the United States. ITC data also showed that the United States exported 184,445 tons to Egypt in 2020, accounting for 7.5% of the 2.45 million tons exported that year.

The Egyptian Ministry of Trade and Industry announced on December 6 that it will impose a new anti-dumping duty of 9% of the CIF value on PVC imports originating in the United States, which includes cost, insurance and freight.

The announcement stated that these tariffs will be imposed for five years.

Ibrahim al-Seginy, Assistant Minister of Economic Affairs and head of the Trade Remedy Department, said in a statement that the move was made after receiving advice from an advisory committee, which had investigated Egyptian manufacturers’ claims that U.S. PVC imports harmed domestic imports. Industry argument. .

"I just think the Egyptian government is killing the goose that lays the golden eggs," said a US market source.

The export price of PVC in the United States increased by 42% from USD 1,450/ton FAS at the beginning of the Egyptian anti-dumping duty investigation in December 2020 to USD 2,065/ton FAS in November 2021. Since August 2020, the U.S. PVC export supply has been tight. The first of the two hurricanes hit Louisiana in six weeks, and the deep freeze and Hurricane Ida hit the U.S. Gulf Coast in mid-February 2021. It landed in Louisiana on August 29, leading to an increase in the massive shutdown.

But prices have fallen from record highs. The last assessment of US exports of PVC at US$2,005/ton FAS was on December 1, which was nearly 3% lower than the previous week.

PVC export prices in other regions have also seen similar increases and recent declines. According to data from S&P Global Platts, the price of FOB NWE PVC in 2020 was US$1,340/ton, and it soared 49% to US$2,000/ton on November 24. The estimated price of the CFR Turkey mark in December 2020 was US$1,450/ton, which rose by more than 43% to US$2,080/ton on November 24. Their last assessment was on December 1st at US$1,960/ton and US$2,040/ton respectively, which is higher than the level on November 24.

As of 2020, Asian PVC prices are US$1,160/ton CFR China, US$1,210/ton CFR Southeast Asia, and US$1,440/ton CFR India. On October 20th, they were assessed at US$1,750/ton, US$1,800/ton and US$1,900/ton respectively. Prior to this, China implemented energy consumption restrictions, which caused supply concerns due to interest rate cuts and some shutdowns.

However, these concerns have alleviated. The last time the price was assessed was US$1,410/ton CFR China on December 8, which was a 19% decrease from October 20; and US$1,455/ton CFR Southeast Asia was 19% lower than that on October 20. %; Platts data shows that 1,610 US dollars / ton CFR India, down 15% from October 20.

Market sources said that although Asian prices are clearly lagging behind other regions, record high freight rates limit traffic to other regions.

US market sources expect that PVC supply will remain tight in the first quarter of 2022 due to the upcoming improvement. According to sources, producers have not fully replenished inventories either, because domestic and export demand will remain strong throughout 2021 amidst production disruptions related to weather and operations.

To continue reading, you must log in or register with us.

It is free and easy to operate. Please use the button below and we will bring you back here when you are done.