US PVC exports will decline

Source: China National Chemical News January 31, 2019

According to market sources recently, a series of overhaul plans in early 2019 will cause US PVC exports to decline in the coming months.

The overhaul of Formosa Plastics’ ethylene dichloride (EDC) unit in Point Comfort, Texas, continued in January, with an annual capacity of 1.4 million tons. According to another person familiar with the matter, the company's annual capacity of 753,000 tons of vinyl chloride units will be overhauled in February and March. During the maintenance of the vinyl chloride plant, the plant’s chlor-alkali output will be significantly reduced, and downstream PVC output is also expected to be affected. In addition, Formosa Plastics plans to overhaul the PVC plant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in April.

Formosa Plastics is not the only company to overhaul the device. According to sources familiar with the operation of West Lake Chemicals, the company’s Geismar, Louisiana plant will also be overhauled in February, and its PVC plant will have an annual capacity of 331,000 tons. Market sources expect that the factory's overhaul will further limit PVC exports. The US Shinko Corporation, a subsidiary of Japan Shin-Etsu Co., Ltd. in the United States, has a PVC plant in Freeport, Texas, scheduled to be overhauled in March, and its annual production capacity is 1.4 million tons. \"This series of overhaul plans will cause US PVC output to drop significantly, which will push up PVC prices.\" said a market source.