Analysts predict market upturn for PVC

PVC makers should be able to find their way out of the darkness in the next couple of years, thanks to low global inventories and a recovery in demand growth. North American PVC producers were hammered in the second half of 2000 as demand plummeted and have faced tough business conditions in early 2001 as well, though they have been able to increase prices an average of 3 cents per pound. Smith, with Houston-based Chemical Market Associates Inc., said at his firm’s World Petrochemical Conference that PVC will lead the petrochemical rebound, just as it was first to slide in 2000. “The fundamentals are all there for PVC to take off,” Smith said.