Supply constraint likely to lift EDC prices in Indian market – 18 Apr 2014

The Indian market witnessed a hike in Ethylene di-chloride (EDC) price on various accounts. Ethylene di-chloride (EDC) is mainly used in production of Poly vinyl chloride, apart from this its also used as solvent and intermediate for some organic chemicals.

Indianpetrochem tried to contact some market sources and found that the market is totally dependent on imports as there is no pan India manufacturer for the product, because of some licensing issue there are very limited importers and stockist for the chemical in the market. According to the department for chemical and fertilizers, the total quantity of EDC imported in year 2012-13 was around 2,89,000 metric tonne.

A Mumbai based market source reported that commonly EDC prices are around Rs. 32-33 per kg in Mumbai market but due to supply shortage the price shoot up to Rs. 82-83 per kg, up by nearly 150%.

The shortage has been due to non-arrival of regular shipments for the past two months. Even though a 8,000 metric tonne shipment had arrived recently, the EDC consignment was not suitable for consumption. Further more, another Mumbai based trader also added that the booking price for EDC has increased by around $50 per metric tonne in last six months.

Overall, the demand for EDC is good nowadays,  considering the incoming imports and the demand in major Indian markets. As such, traders are expecting the market price to shoot up to leves of  Rs.95-98 per kg.