全球PVC供应紧张推动价格升至9年来高点

据石化新闻2020年9月18日休斯敦报道，今年4月份，当疫情大流行导致的停产和经济冲击席卷全球大部分地区时，建筑材料聚氯乙烯（PVC）的需求降至2008年全球金融危机以来的最低水平。

房屋建设活动断断续续。PVC买家退缩，而PVC卖家追逐不断萎缩的需求，但往往徒劳无功。5个月以后，这是一幅完全不同的画面。美国和欧洲连续数个月的PVC价格下调、需求复苏，以及部分不可抗力，已将PVC价格推至多年高位。在供应严重紧张的情况下，买家希望能够获得用于制造管道、窗框、乙烯基壁板和其他产品的PVC原料。

一位美国市场消息人士表示：“目前市场上真的没有任何PVC产品。”“有少许来自亚洲。但价格很高。人们如今是在口袋里而不是到处买PVC产品。”

美国PVC出口价格在6周内下跌了39%，在4月29日休斯敦PVC厂关闭的高峰期跌至12年来的最低点520美元/吨。由于停产缓解，PVC价格在5月份开始反弹，到8月份达到了800美元/吨的船边交货价格。

随后，美国4家PVC生产商中的两家在8月中下旬宣布PVC受到不可抗力的影响。4月份之后，由于转场或对需求改善能否持续感到担忧，没有一家PVC生产商的价格完全恢复正常。到9月16日，PVC价格已经从4月29日的低点翻了一番，达到了1050美元/吨的9年来高点。

李峻 编译自 石化新闻

原文如下：

Tight global PVC supply pushes prices to multi-year highs

When coronavirus pandemic-related shutdowns and economic shocks gripped much of the world in April, demand for construction staple polyvinyl chloride careened to lows not seen since the global financial crash in 2008.

Home construction activity cratered. PVC buyers recoiled and sellers chased shrinking pockets of demand, often in vain.

Five months later, it's a starkly different picture. Months of reduced rates, demand recovery and some force majeures on PVC in the US and Europe have pushed prices to multi-year highs. Buyers want the powder that makes pipes, window frames, vinyl siding and other products amid an acute supply squeeze.

"At this moment there's really no product in the market," a US market source said."There's a little coming from Asia. Prices are high. People are buying, in pockets, not everywhere."

US export PVC prices fell 39% in six weeks to a 12-year low of $520/mt FAS Houston on April 29 at the height of the shutdowns. Prices began rebounding in May as shutdowns eased, reaching $800/mt FAS by August.

Then Formosa Plastics USA and Westlake Chemical, two of the four US producers, declared force majeure on PVC in mid and late August. None had resumed fully normal rates post-April amid turnarounds or skittishness about whether improved demand would be sustained. By Sept. 16, prices had doubled from that April 29 low to $1,050/mt FAS, a nine-year high.