French petrochemicals manufacturer Arkema has lifted the force majeure on its PVC and caustic soda production, a company source said Tuesday.
According to the source the force majeure on PVC at its 270,000 mt/year site in Berre, southern France was lifted on Friday, while the FM on caustic soda out of its 300,000 mt/year chlor-alkali site in Fos also in southern France was lifted Monday.
Arkema declared the force majeure on PVC on February 9 and on February 14 for caustic soda, following the severe cold snap that affected Europe earlier this year.
Elsewhere, while PVC prices have experienced an increase since January as a result of supply tightness and feedstock cost hikes, ongoing April contract negotiations are reflecting buyers resisting further increases.
Indeed, the talking range for April contract pricing has adjusted down as buyers continued to argue that a margin increase of the size proposed was unworkable, given the current supply/demand balance. NWE buyers were heard positioning themselves at between plus Eur30-50/mt ($39-66/mt) higher than March while sellers were between Eur50-80/mt FD.
The gross German contract price was assessed at Eur1,155/mt FD on Wednesday.
Meanwhile on the caustic soda side, producers were heard retreating from increase positions for Q2, and fighting for rollover, although some sources have also noted that some contracts have been settled at a decrease from Q1 when the contract price for NWE was assessed at Eur482.50/mt.
