Karachi October 21, 2021: PVC prices increased by USD200 per ton in international markets as a result of higher energy cost for production. Engro Polymer & Chemicals Limited has also increased domestic prices by USD175 per ton.
PVC is a construction staple used to make pipes, window frames, vinyl siding and other products. The announcement came after Hurricane Ida’s Aug. 29 landfall in Louisiana prompted five US PVC plants representing 41% of North American PVC capacity to shut down.
Days later, Shintech shut its 1.45 million mt/year PVC plant in Freeport, Texas, on a lack of upstream vinyl chloride monomer feedstock. Olin had shut its 835,000 mt/year VCM plant in Freeport because of an equipment failure, according to sources familiar with both companies’ operations.
Shintech’s shutdown pushed PVC capacity offline to 59%, though the Louisiana operations have since been working to restart, first bringing upstream units online.
Formosa’s 513,000 mt/year PVC unit in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was among PVC plants that shut ahead of Ida’s landfall, but was the first to begin restarting, sources familiar with company operations said. The plant resumed normal output over the weekend of Sept. 11.
