Vinyls - Vinyls global monthly market overview November 2019

The story is much the same across the vinyls chain as weak demand continues to weigh on global prices. Spot PVC prices have remained under pressure as Asia has proven highly competitive and offers continue to edge lower. Similarly, global caustic soda prices have yet to break their trend down as weak global demand outweighs lower production levels - in part due to less chlorine consumption into PVC. Only EDC and VCM - the vinyls chain intermediates - have seen some levels of support through the past month as spot prices have moved more sideways than down. For US domestic producers, price increases announced on both PVC and caustic come at a challenging time of the year. While true that margins are severely suppressed, seasonally slowing demand and destocking initiatives late in the year (beyond weakened US ethylene and softer export prices) have us doubtful that price increases will be realized until early in 2020.