3 March - Kem One seeks sharp hikes for March in Europe
Source: ChemOrbis
According to a source from the producer, France’s KemOne will seek increases of €190/ton on suspension and €200/ton on emulsion PVC grades. The decision came on the back of a dearth of global PVC supplies, lower caustic soda prices as well as the huge gap between spot and export markets.
The producer’s stock levels are known to be extremely low amid a force majeure declaration from its Saint-Fons site, allocations at Balan site and an upcoming maintenance shutdown in March. A producer source reported, “This tightness is too magnified by the necessity for some players to build some stock for their next T/A to come. What could certainly not expected at all was the occurrence of the polar storm in US and its major impact, affecting more than 80% of US PVC capacity, forcing most US players to apply FM/shutdown of their assets, which will further exacerbate the tightness of the US market and further reduce the volume exported by US players.”
As PVC tightness will deepen further in March, the pace of increases is set to be larger than February.