According to the Financial Associated Press (Shanghai, editor Zhou Ling), the United States is the world's largest exporter of polyvinyl chloride (PVC), but Hurricane Ida disrupted the production of PVC in the United States on a large scale and pushed the price of PVC in the United States to record highs. It is reported that some international buyers have begun to turn to Asia to seek supply.

PVC is the world's largest production of general-purpose plastics. It is widely used in building materials, industrial products, daily necessities, floor leather, floor tiles, artificial leather, pipes, etc. The shale gas boom has led to a surge in petrochemical production in the United States in recent years. In this context, the United States has become the world's largest exporter of PVC.

According to data provider ICIS, Hurricane Ida stopped more than 60% of PVC production in the United States. This is the latest blow to the Gulf Coast industry after a large-scale power outage caused by a historic frost in February.

The deep frost on the Gulf Coast in February forced the shutdown of 57% of North America’s PVC production capacity for several weeks.

The latest supply constraints have caused the price of PVC in the United States to rise to record highs. “We now hear that some buyers are looking for supplies in Asia,” said Jeremy Pafford, head of North American operations at ICIS. “Expected (PVC) The tight supply situation will continue for several weeks."

According to ICIS data, in the week of September 10, the U.S. Gulf Coast PVC export price was US$1,900/metric ton, a 28% increase from the beginning of the year.

According to the customer’s letter, Formosa Plastics USA announced on September 13 that starting from September 15 or subject to the terms of the contract, the price of PVC in the United States will increase by 5 cents per pound. The price increase is based on the previously announced price increase of 2 cents per pound effective September 1.

As far as China is concerned, PVC spot and futures market prices have also reached record highs. A reporter from the Financial Associated Press recently learned from industry insiders that domestic leading PVC companies have maintained full capacity production. In the second half of the year, with the high price of PVC, corporate profits are considerable. In the secondary market, the share prices of many PVC companies have doubled since the beginning of the year, and their performance in the first half of the year also increased significantly.

In addition to the surge in PVC prices, US ethane prices have risen by 25% so far in September, reaching their highest level in three years. Ethane is a by-product of natural gas and one of the main raw materials for daily plastics such as PVC. At the same time, natural gas prices are approaching a seven-year high.

This article is from the Financial Association