MOSCOW: Imports of suspension polyvinyl chloride (SPVC) into Russia totalled about 43,000 tonnes in the first ten months of 2017, down 65% year on year, according to MRC’s DataScope report.
October SPVC imports were 581 tonnes, compared to 432 tonnes a month earlier. High prices in foreign markets and sufficient supply from Russian producers were the main reason for lower imports in the past several months.
Weaker domestic demand and high capacity utilisation led to a major decrease in dependence on PVC imports even in the period of strong seasonal demand. Chinese producers traditionally were the key foreign PVC suppliers for the past several years.
Overall imports of resin from China were 39,600 tonnes in the first ten months of the year, compared to 95,700 tonnes a year earlier. Imports of Chinese acetylene resin is expected to grow in November, prices in China slumped in the second half of October, and some Russian companies contracted PVC.
European producers shipped small quantities of suspension, overall imports of European PVC fell to 2,600 tonnes over the stated period from 5,900 tonnes a year earlier. Weaker demand for PVC from the domestic market forced Russian producers to export material more actively. 1,200 tonnes were shipped to foreign markets last month (excluding deliveries to the countries of the Customs Union) versus 4,100 tonnes in September. 65,300 tonnes of SPVC were shipped in the first ten months of 2017, compared to 43,000 tonnes a year earlier.
