July SPVC imports to the Russian market increased to 36,300 tonnes on the back of seasonal factors versus 28,200 tonnes a month earlier. The overall imports of suspension to the Russian Federation fell from January to July 2014 to 161,800 tonnes, whereas this figure was 272,800 tonnes over the same period of 2013. Imports from the United States accounted for the largest drop in the total SPVC imports, while Chinese producers managed to limit the decline in exports to the Russian market because of lower export prices.

 

The geography of shipments over the first seven months of 2014 looks the following way.

 

Shipments of acetylene PVC from China rose to 25,400 tonnes in July versus 21,000 tonnes in June. Imports of Chinese acetylene resin to the Russian market dropped by 10% from January to July 2014 and totalled 94,800 tonnes. A stable pricing policy, despite of all market indicators (PVC prices in Asia), has allowed Chinese producers to significantly limit the fall in SPVC exports to Russia.

 

Last month"s PVC imports from the USA increased to 6,800 tonnes on the back of scheduled outages for maintenance at Russian plants in August and October versus 3,100 tonnes in June. However, the overall imports of North American PVC to Russia slumped over the stated period to 33,200 tonnes from 134,600 tonnes a year earlier. Relatively high export PVC prices and the devaluation of the Russian rouble made imports from the United States unprofitable for Russian companies. But the situation might change in September and October on the back of high contract prices of Russian producers and the reduction of import duty to 6.5%.

 

PVC imports from Europe remained low because of higher prices and totalled 2,800 tonnes in July. The overall imports of European suspension to the Russian market reached 22,800 tonnes over the said period versus 24,600 tonnes over the same period of 2013.