Since 2017, plastic prices have fluctuated frequently. Since the end of March this year, the price of plastic raw materials has risen in an all-round way. The PVC, which is mainly used to make building pipes, is polyvinyl chloride. The price is from 6,200 yuan/ About ton, once rose to around 7,100 yuan / ton in early June. Although the current price has been adjusted back, but still at a high level, then why is the price of PVC rising?
Increase in raw material costs, PVC rose by more than 14% in two months
In the warehouse of a PVC raw material production enterprise located in Erdos, Inner Mongolia, the reporter saw that there were not many products stacked, only about a quarter of the space. The person in charge told the reporter that this was nearly half of the normal inventory. Only 5000 Tons, and these goods have actually been sold out.
At present, the ex-factory price of PVC products is basically around 6,700 yuan per ton, compared with the end of March, the price per ton has increased by six to seven hundred yuan. Plus the freight, the market price is around 6,900 yuan. In mid-June, the market The price is up to 7100 yuan. The reason why the price of PVC rises is directly related to the increase of raw material cost.
In addition, in the past two years, the application of PVC has expanded from traditional pipes and profiles to floors and walls. Demand has increased. As environmental protection policies become more stringent, some backward production capacity is gradually phased out and supply is decreasing.
Outdated production capacity accelerates the elimination of transformation and upgrading of downstream enterprises
In the past two years, the optimization of the production capacity brought by the environmental protection policy has made the upstream production enterprises that were in a loss state profit well. The recent increase in the price of PVC raw materials and the accelerated elimination of backward production capacity have also led downstream manufacturers to seek transformation and upgrading. road.
In a company that produces PVC pipe fittings in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, the person in charge is working with the staff to develop the production and sales plan for the day. The person in charge said that in the past two months, the sales situation of the company was particularly good.
Although the sales volume has increased, the raw material cost has increased by nearly six or seven hundred yuan per ton this year, and the product price has only increased by two or three hundred yuan, which is very stressful for enterprises. In order to increase the added value of products, his enterprise is undergoing transformation and upgrading. , improve product quality.
According to industry insiders, under the pressure of rising costs and environmental protection policies, some small PVC pipes and profile manufacturers have been shut down. At present, the plastics processing industry is developing in the direction of high-end and high-quality.
Traders reduce inventory and increase futures arbitrage
For trade companies, the recent fluctuations in plastic prices have swayed the market, making the risk of trading patterns that rely on spot prices to earn the difference. In order to avoid risks, trading companies are also actively seeking better ways to make profits through financial instruments.
In a warehouse in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, the staff told reporters that in the past month, the prices of PVC, polypropylene, polyethylene and other plastic raw materials have risen and then fluctuated, which makes traders afraid to store raw materials too much. The inventory dropped significantly.
Xu Jingen is the head of a trading company. Now he often has to check the price changes of plastic-related futures varieties, because the current trade pricing is basically a reference to futures prices. Their stocks total about 200,000 tons, which used to be 50% in futures. The left and right sets of reserves, but recent price fluctuations are frequent, they are also increasing the amount of insurance.
In recent years, the price fluctuation of plastic raw materials is more obvious. As the market price becomes more transparent, the traditional trade mode of relying solely on the spot market to earn the difference is more risky. A large number of enterprises lock in profits through the risk hedging of the futures market. 2017 In the year, the number of industrial customers participating in the plastics futures of Dalian Commodity Exchange reached 7,953, a record high. The volume of industrial customers' transactions, holdings accounted for 23.6% and 47.7%, respectively, up 2.2% and 0.7% respectively.