As per the recent assessment, the prices of Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) in the USA remained stable during March 21, 2025, with adequate supply in the market and softer demand from the downstream industries, yet the prices dropped by 1.24% on a month-on-month basis.

As per domestic PVA manufacturing, plants were operating at a moderate lower pace in response to slower demand from the downstream lightweight cement, FMCG market. Raw material vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) availability was adequate and the PVA value chain remained undisrupted. Despite the softening of PVA’s raw material cost, high labor costs and rangebound production margins have created a stable market scenario. With market sentiments being dull PVA manufacturers avoid aggressive output rates increase to maintain their profit rates. This helped ensure a balanced supply and demand situation throughout the month.

From the demand front, the PVA demand was soft with key downstream sector activity restrained from high buying activities. The PVA downstream sector (textile and paper industries) continued slower offtakes due to lackluster production and weak export orders. Another downstream of PVA, FMCG, and packaging sector demand was at a subpar level. However, the retail sector maintained some momentum. According to recently released data from the U.S. Department of Commerce, consumer spending rose by just 0.2% in February, this was underwhelming as there drop of almost 1.2% in January. As consumer sentiments remain delicate with employment concerns in the market.

However, PVA imports from the Asian market remained at a consistent pace, putting pressure on domestic sellers in certain regions. Inland freight conditions improved compared to previous months, supporting deliveries across the consumption zones. Moreover, demand from another downstream, construction sector was relatively stable, where it is used in lightweight cement, and dry-mix mortars. However, overall construction sector demand was subdued due to higher material cost inflation and slow housing starts. Continued high interest rates lowered builders’ confidence which further created a pessimistic market view.

As per the ChemAnalyst database, the PVA market is expected to remain subdued in the upcoming months. This is highly likely to occur due to lower production costs amid lower energy costs and lower feedstock VAM costs.  On the demand front, the downstream demand from lightweight cement industries is expected to remain on the lower end with continued high labor and high raw materials costs causing builder confidence to decline further.

Furthermore, a balanced supply and demand situation is expected to prevail in the market, leading to further subdued market conditions. In addition, the US government announced tariffs on construction materials especially steel, which will lead to a rise in the construction cost with countries announcing counter-tariffs creating uncertainty in the market scenario. These developments of high interest rates have created a pessimistic market view for the builders further dampening product future product inquiries.